Impartial Inferno
by Virulent
Summary: Sora only wants to be normal. Being rich is hard, y'know. He gets himself into a public school, but things don't go as planned when the place crumbles into a foundation of corruption. The things kids do for love. RikuxSora, yaoi. Dark. -More Inside-
1. Dawn

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Kingdom Hearts / the internet / whatever else is mentioned. Only thing I own is this story. -Sued by FF- ):

**Pairings: **Sora x Riku (main), Sora x ?? (secret for now!), Sora x Kairi (one-sided), Sora x other random people.

**Warnings:** Yaoi, Sex, Extreme Nudity, Mature Language, Bondage, Rape, bit of Angst, more weird things later.

**Summary: **There's a breaking point for everyone. At one point in your life, you will reach it and everyone you know comes into play. Sora is basically the social-saavy equivalent of a penny at first but he wants to be "normal" badly. He meets... well, sees a girl and falls in love at first sight. At least, he thinks it's love. Anyone who has fallen in first love at first sight can tell you things aren't always as they seem. Things go well at first but Sora's luck finally runs out in a corrupted high school. Wrong place at the wrong time. This story follows the events in this school and the rise, highs, break, lows, and fall of our favorite hero.

Follow Sora on his quest to become a 'normal' teenager through a school that is anything but normal. His sanity will be tested.

**Chapter Notes: **This one is more of an introductory chapter. Not too much action, just to get a feel of everyone. It gets spicier next chapters, don't worry. You don't have to read this one but you'll be more lost / clueless later. Also, I know it's corny for a dark fic right now. Shh.

**Update: **Virulent has school and therefore won't be updating this super quickly. There is a lot of work to do. PS; This starts out corny. Starts out.

--

**Impartial Inferno**

A fire will burn everything in its path.

Chapter 1: Dawn

_All I wanted was to be normal._

"Sora get up… Oh?"

He was already dressed as he hadn't gotten much sleep at all. This was going to be his first day in public school! It'd taken ages for him to beg his parents to allow him to go to a school in the first place, and it had taken ages more for him to convince them a public school was better. He wasn't even sure he was right, but he was quite persuasive. Why a public school? Sora's entire life he'd been treated like he was better than everyone else – given anything he wanted and not allowed to work for anything. He didn't have any friends given the fact he was homeschooled, and his computer had been blocked. His parents were convinced that chatting online was hazardous to his health; bearing in mind he'd slipped a "lol" once during conversation. Besides, private schools only permitted males and the entrance fee ensured that only rich people got in. That's not exactly a fulfilling school experience. "Alright, breakfast will be ready soon. You should probably fix your shirt first, it's backwards!" With that, Sora's mother exited the doorway and made her way back downstairs. Sora was momentarily frozen, surprised that his mother had taken it upon herself to come and actually talk to him as opposed to sending a maid. He smiled, although that didn't last long at all when he realized the school day hadn't even really started and he was already screwing things up. He pulled the shirt off and slipped it back on shortly afterwards. A quick glance in the mirror and he realized he'd returned his hair to its brunette spiked bedhead state and that his shirt was now inside-out instead. "Augh!" _Nice._

He didn't realize exactly how excited he was until he couldn't even manage to sit still long enough to actually eat anything. In fact, he did just about everything _except _eating. That included pacing, drinking, talking, and daydreaming. 

"Sora, eat. You don't need to waste any food." His father stated, intrigued by his son's hyper attitude. He hadn't seen him like that since he was smaller. Sora's brows furrowed in confusion. For one, it's not like they couldn't afford more food. Secondly, his father barely ever spoke to him. He decided not to dwell on it for too long and took it as a sign that life was finally changing. He was already living how a normal teenager should; or how he thought one should anyways. "Okay." He sat and finally ate, joined by his father and a newspaper.

Showing up in a fancy expensive car wouldn't exactly come off as normal, and Sora cursed himself once he realized that due to the varying looks of surprise to disgust displayed amongst some of the students. He had premeditated a majority of his first school day, but that hadn't exactly included the mornings… Thankfully, the car had tinted windows so he asked the driver to continue on into a parking lot ahead. "At least I'm dressed no-" The next word died at his lips as he stared on at a red-head chatting to her platinum blonde-haired friend. She gave a glance towards the car and coincidentally at Sora, smiling. Needless to say, it was love at first sight to the young boy who hadn't seen a female his age that wasn't a relative well…ever. "Wow." He was almost breathless, taking in as much of her appearance as he could manage – actually thanking his anonymity a second time. _I'm going to talk to her when I see her again. Definitely. _Sora didn't notice how contagious her smile had been until he felt himself frown when she was out of sight. He wondered vaguely if she was in the same grade or if she might be in one of his classes.

The lot hadn't been too far off, but nobody appeared to have been suspicious enough to follow and see who emerged from the car. "Phew." Sora embraced his luck again, heading off towards the school. He found himself amazed at how large the school actually was, having known that to house 3 grades of students it had to be – but still! When he was amongst the crowds of students making their ways to the gigantic building, he pulled out a slip of paper eyeing it. "Room 102, Homeroom slash Algebra?" He read aloud. _Who would actually want to start the day with that? _His favorite subject had been world history during homeschooling and needless to say – his least favorite was math. He placed the schedule back into his pocket. Wait.

_How am I going to find that room in that huge place?!" _

Sora worriedly looked around. That girl he'd been eyeing before wasn't here, so he settled for the next nearest person. "Hey, excuse me-" He reached out to tap the silver-haired person in front of him on the shoulder, but the boy turned to face him before he could. Sora nervously lowered his hand back to his side, producing an awkward smile. The silver-haired taller boy eyed him, in the manner that could be categorized similarly in the way that Sora had looked at Kairi- though that thought was dismissed when he spoke. "I haven't seen you before." _So that's why he's staring at me, huh? _Sora rubbed the back of his neck, a habit he'd had since he was smaller and extended his other hand. "Yeah, I'm Sora, I'm new here!" He mentally stabbed himself. His hand was extended as he'd assumed that's the way people would greet each other, but the other person wasn't doing anything. Did he do something stupid again? "I'm Riku." The other male spoke in a stolid manner, appearing nonchalant. Both of his hands were currently pocketed in a black hoody, so Sora reasoned that was why he didn't shake his hand and returned it to his side. "I'm Sora," he stated again and Riku exhaled – appearing amused which confused him. "You already said that," he stated, "What do you want?" _Wait, what do I want? I was… what was I doing? _ The combination of bright silver hair and eyes that alternated between blue and green resulted in a very intimidating other teenager, not serving to aid Sora in figuring out what he was doing. Riku only smiled as Sora started hastily attempting to explain again. "I'm new here…" Repetitive much? "and…" He was thankful when Riku caught on, "What room do you need to get to? I'll take you." _Sora, stop being so stupid! _"Eyes." _Man I think loud. Almost sounded like I actually said that. _Riku was thinking something along the same lines, and against his better judgment he decided to call Sora out on it. "What? Eyes?" _Mind reader? Wait no. Crap, I did say it out loud. _Sora's expression didn't hide his distress, as he quickly corrected himself stating Room 201 was what he'd meant. The taller boy accepted it, but didn't appear convinced at all. He turned and started off towards the school leaving a frustrated brunette to follow. _I've never seen eyes like that before._

The school was just as amazing inside as it was outside. The floors shined with the result of a dedicated cleaning crew, and the walls were decorated with art done by students. Sora had taken art lessons and still hadn't pulled off anything close to what adorned these walls. His best was a shooting star, and even then it'd appeared rather crudely drawn. "Hey Riku, do you draw?" Sora asked. Riku didn't reply at first, appearing to be more concerned with the students around them. In truth, he knew he was supposed to pull off a distant guy façade, and that didn't entail walking around with a talkative cutesy young-looking boy. He wasn't even sure why he'd offered to take him to class. Apparently Sora wasn't the only one with contagious qualities, as Riku found himself not thinking things through for the first time in his life. "No." Sora frowned. He looked like the type to draw. "Soccer?" No. "Football?" No. "Um, acting?" No. "Ballad?" NO. Sora continued listing off various activities and after a few minutes of repetitive 'No's, he settled for asking questions about the school. He was just getting to asking about the storage-looking things that students were accessing along the walls, but was interrupted. "Here. Room 201." _Haha, crap. I so wasn't paying attention. How am I gonna get back here tomorrow? _He smiled anyways, and thanked the weird silver-haired boy before watching him pull up the hood of the black hoody and walking off. There appeared to be a white roman number on his back that Sora hadn't paid much attention to up until then, but a few students blocked it before he could figure out which one.

The classroom appeared empty at first, but upon closer inspection all the students who were there, barely eight mind you, were at the back talking. The first row didn't have any backpacks next to it, and Sora wondered why nobody would want to sit in the front. It seemed like the best spot. To avoid being seen as weird again, he settled for the second row, next to a window. He placed his backpack next to it and pulled a pencil and notepad out, placing them on his desk. He then opted for talking to a few of the other students, so he headed to the back and introduced himself. Everyone just looked at him funny, before a short girl with equally short black hair walked over to him. At first he was glad someone acknowledged him and to have someone to talk to, but then she _kept _talking. In fact – although she didn't hold a long conversation it seemed that she'd managed to fit her entire life story into it. Somewhere during the talk Sora had learned her name was Yuffie and had also managed to wander back to his desk whereas he'd sat down. It was only after she was gone that he realized his pencil had disappeared. The thought of Yuffie taking it didn't cross his mind, and he started to search for it when a blonde-haired boy entered the class and took the seat next to Sora who only noticed when he situated himself upright from looking underneath his seat. "Looking for something?"

_Is EVERYONE taller than me? _

Besides being tall, the blonde boy had similarly unruly hair and blue eyes. His choice of dress was bizarre, as one of the pants legs of his black shorts was shorter than the other, and he had a yellow polo shirt with a white collar and black sleeves. A silver necklace hung over it and Sora couldn't quite make out what it was supposed to be. "Yeah, my pencil disappeared…" Sora frowned, regretting not having packed more than one. The boy offered him another one, and Sora darn near smiled his face off. Not only was another male not looking at him funny, but he was giving him something. "I have a lot, who are you? I haven't seen you before." Sora had noticed the pencil didn't have a point, and reached into his backpack for a sharpener as he answered. "Sora, you?" "Tidus. Hey – you don't need to sharpen it, it's mechanical. Are you sure you should be in the 11th grade?" He and a few students behind them laughed, and Sora felt his face heat up. "I shouldn't take this then, didn't it cost a lot?" Tidus gave Sora yet another funny look, though it wasn't like the others. He seemed to be struggling between disbelief and confused amazement. He reached over and took the pencil from him, twisting the end so the lead came out. Sora's eyes widened in amazement, and Tidus realized he was really being sincere and determined he must have been foreign even if he didn't look it. There wasn't much more time for the two to get acquainted, as the teacher walked in. "Thanks." Sora whispered before the teacher started to speak.

The next classes weren't nearly entertaining or eventful. Riku was in one, but hadn't said anything to him... At lunch, after several awkward minutes of sitting alone he was surprised to be joined by Tidus from earlier and a small blonde girl. "Hey Sora, this is Rikku. She's foreign like you, but is pretty fluent in English...like you." Tidus placed his lunch on the table and sat down, followed by the supposedly foreign girl. "But I'm not-" Sora started, but the new girl interrupted him. "Hi Sora! Want to see my new calculator? I modified it to be a sort of mini-computer, too." Tidus rolled his eyes as Rikku scooted over closer to her new friend who was wondering what was up with her eyes. _Riku…Rikku… Do all Rik-somethings have weird eyes? _He mused. "Hey Sora, wake up!" He was brought back from a poke to the side, which earned a strangled laugh out of him. "He giggles, your type huh Tidus?" Tidus flushed as he protested, but Sora was completely oblivious to what Rikku had actually implied. Instead, he assumed she meant his taste in friends and protested against her saying he giggled. _My laugh is manly. I don't giggle. Pffbtt. _Sora didn't actually manage to eat much during the rest of lunch, as the girl had made it a habit to continue poking him at the most inopportune moments. He quietly noted that he shouldn't drink around her in the future; especially soda.

The day had gone swimmingly so far, and although Sora was pleased with it there was one thing that could have ended the day perfectly and that was meeting the girl from before. His hope dwindled as he entered the class that already was half-full. As he walked to a seat, he noticed that it had a name on it. A brief glance around and he realized that all of the desks did, and he maneuvered around to each reading the names in search for his own. He paused at one that said 'Kairi.' _Why does that feel familiar? I know Rikku, Riku, Yuffie, and Tidus…no Kairi… _It couldn't even be described as familiar; it was more of a knowing feeling. He didn't want to seem weird just standing there and kept moving and reading more names. Strangely enough, his name was the last and he ended up in the very back at the right. He took a seat and looked ahead. _Who would want to sit back here? It feels so uninvolved…_ He frowned, actually feeling like following suit of the other kids in the back who had their head resting in their arms. The day was tiring for a boy who rarely did any physical activity at all and had to lug around a backpack that got heavier with each passing class as books were handed out. There was enough time in-between classes to go to his locker if he didn't have to spend it navigating around the school. He saw two kids with black-hoodies and numbers as well on the way to class, but he remembered half of an "X" on Riku and neither of them had that so he hadn't interrupted them for help. He took the time to play with his new pencil, finding entertainment in making the lead come out to its end then putting it back inside the top (which he'd figured out came off from exploration in another class)- just to do it over again. He was just putting it back inside when something caught his eye. It was a flash of red near the seat he had paused at before. His breathing ceased as he looked up. It was the girl. It was _her._

_Kairi. _

Sora could only stare, only aware of the fact he hadn't been breathing when he couldn't hold it any longer. His face grew hot and she had her back to him but he knew. He just knew it was her like he'd known that was her name. He had thought about her all day and how he was going to approach her, but he couldn't move. She turned to the girl next to her who had leaned over and tapped her on the shoulder, flashing that smile that Sora knew all too well. Well no, not well enough actually. He wanted to know that smile as cheesy as it sounded. He wanted to make her look like that all day more than anything and he didn't even know why. "Yeah, finally the last class. I can't believe it. What were you up to this summer?" She giggled. She wore "make-up", he could tell. He could faintly remember seeing his mother without it once, and thought she looked better. _You shouldn't wear that stuff, you don't need it… _He frowned. The teacher walked in and Kairi turned to the front. He didn't listen to anything the teacher had said. He didn't write his name in the book that was passed around that the teacher had just told them to sign. He didn't do the worksheet that was handed out with the book he hadn't written his name in. He didn't turn in the worksheet that he hadn't done and didn't acknowledge the girl in front of him telling him it wasn't filled out. All he could see was Kairi. Nobody and nothing else mattered at that moment.

The class ended and Sora finally came back to Earth when Kairi started putting all of her things away. He was still mesmerized and due to this he couldn't manage to put all of his stuff away quick enough to catch her in the classroom. _Sora, hurry up. You're going to miss her. Wait, Kairi! _He couldn't actually voice his thoughts for some reason. He felt shy when he was never shy. When he finally did manage to get out of the classroom, he couldn't find her through the ocean of students trying to get home. He ignored the weight of his backpack whose strap was digging into his shoulder as he'd only half-swung it on, and started through the waves. He didn't know where he was going or if it was the right way. He felt pulled in a direction and he went it. At one point, the feeling became strong. A majority of the students were exiting the building in the exit he was near, but something red caught his eye once again. It wasn't Kairi, but a small yarn-looking red string caught underneath his shoe. He leaned down and picked it up. He liked red things, but he couldn't help but think there was something special about it that he wasn't remembering or that he didn't know. _I should hang onto it 'til I figure it out… feels like it's something important. _He headed towards the exit like the other students, figuring he might find her outside.

_What the… There's wind from that door, but… the string is blowing in another direction…?_

He stared down at the string, then up at the door. He stared at the door, then back down at the string. There was no possible way that the string would be blowing sideways with the way the wind was blowing inside. His eyes followed the direction of the string which led to a side-door he figured also led outside due to the sunlight leaking in through the small window. _It's leading me to her… it has to be!_

He pushed open the door which was difficult. I wouldn't call Sora weak, but he wasn't strong either. It led to the same field the other students were exiting into, but on the side of the building. _Hmmm. _He looked around, but didn't see red anywhere. The string he had been holding was swept from his hand and he panicked. After all, that was the only 'lead' he had if you could call it that. He must have looked pretty stupid following a string to anyone who happened to see him, but if you've ever desired someone to the extent he did you would know that you'll do pretty stupid things and not even realize it until thinking it over later. Finally, he caught sight of two benches side-by-side. They were occupied by a bunch of people, a majority of which had that same black hoody from before. However, there were 3 girls one which he immediately recognized as Kairi. That swayed him enough to ignore everything else and he headed over.

Kairi didn't notice or look up as Sora drew closer. Another red-haired person noticed – unfortunately for him. He was close, so close, but somebody stepped into his view. "Hey look who it is. Rich-boy." Sora froze and looked up. _Rich-boy? How does he know? Stalker… _He looked up and noticed this person looked similar to Kairi, despite the black tear-drop tattoos underneath his black-lined eyes which were sea-green and didn't look quite real or maybe…deceptive? _Contacts maybe?_ _He kind looks like Larvitar from pokemon…That pokemon sucks. _Sora's smirk at the thought withered just as quickly as it came. "Um, I just want to talk to Kairi…" If Riku had been tall, this boy was gigantic and even more intimidating. Kids weren't even supposed to be able to get tattoos… "Hey Axel, at least it's a rich one this time." 'Axel's' expression changed to something just short of furious, and Sora took a step backwards which put him within eyeshot of Kairi again who looked up from talking to that platinum-blonde haired girl from before and smiled. She actually smiled at Sora _intentionally. _He smiled back and this seemed to enrage the other teen, who just so happened to be as violent as his appearance depicted. One moment he was in bliss, and the next there was a sharp pain in his chest which knocked the air out of him and the backpack off of his shoulder. He stumbled back a few steps; nearly falling, but Axel closed the distance and grabbed his neck. "Get off of me!" Sora growled. Laughter picked up around them as Sora's hands closed around Axel's wrist, pulling but to no avail.

_Ugh. He smells like smoke. _

Sora looked away thinking maybe the smell would go away or even better – Axel would lose interest and go away instead, and his eyes met with familiar ones. It was Riku this time. Sora silently pleaded with Riku, his eyes intertwined with a sort of distress just about anyone could make out; but – he looked away. A boy stepped in front of him, and the hurt dimmed from Sora's eyes. This one had light violet hair and looked amused. "Do you think you could buy her or something? You think money gets you everything?" Sora's gaze focused back on Axel, who tightened his grip forcing his nails into his neck which caused Sora to tighten his own; pulling a bit more frantically. He thought he heard someone say, "Money gets you porn and that's all I need," but he was too focused on the situation and didn't even know what porn was had he been paying attention. He'd been in a pokemon chatroom a majority of the time, and that topic never came up. On another note, breathing was starting to get difficult. "No! I don't I lov-" Axel's eyes flashed with recognition then something akin to hatred or hurt as he cut Sora off, with words and nails digging deep into his jugular.

"Don't go near her. If I find you near her I'll fucking break your neck, got it memorized?"

His voice was low but laced with a kind of hatred that was rare without reason. With that he released Sora who reached up, his hands hovering just over his neck where he could still feel the ghost of Axel's hands. "But.." _I can't fight him. He seems to care about Kairi so … if I hurt him she wouldn't like me…If I say no then he'll hate me… but if I don't, how do I get close to her? _Axel had turned around and left Sora to gaze at the 'VIII' on his back. _A gang? _He briefly wandered as they seemed to all start moving. "Come on." A deep voice stated. Another boy with darker silver hair was standing at the first bench and started off, everyone soon following. A blonde-haired person with strange bangs that Sora couldn't quite figure to be a male or female hit a boy on the back of the head as they passed, smirking as he complained about almost having his eye gouged out by the corner of the book. Sora could only watch as they all left. His eyes drifted back to Riku who avoided his gaze again. Sora sighed, looking away. _A loophole. I need a loophole. _Had he been paying attention, something he doesn't seem to be doing often, he would have heard the brunette girl that had been with Kairi teasing Riku about something red tangled in his hair.

* * *

Sora wasn't happy, that much was clear. He walked home instead of calling for a driver again. The backpack was heavy, but he didn't regret it. Somehow walking seemed to make it easier to think. _How? _How was he going to get to her? Maybe in the last class he could catch her again; alone. What if somebody saw and told, though? That Axel guy was scary and something in Sora made him feel as if he wasn't kidding around and he actually _would _get his neck broken if he tried anything. Perhaps he could get Axel to be his friend. He tried with Riku though and that didn't go well at all. _Riku. _Sora frowned. He honestly thought they were friends. _Of course not. Just because someone helped you doesn't make them your friend… Who cares anyways? You have Tidus and Rikku. _With that thought he felt a little better, but if you've ever been in love you just know friends don't fill that void. They might coat it and even make you forget about it for a while, but it's still there.

When he arrived home, his mother noticed the nail-prints in his neck and a bit of dried blood around them. Sora of course didn't know it was that serious, but he couldn't tell her what happened. She would take him out of the school… "I was nervous and I um squeezed my neck really hard." _I lied. Not unbelievable, though… _"You and your bad neck-habits." _The other one was just a convenience. _She laughed and ruffled his hair then walked off. _I never lied before. _"Hey Sora, how was school?" His father appeared at the doorway his mother had just exited. "It was great!" _Another lie. Half lie anyways. _"Whats that on your neck?" He asked, but before Sora had to answer he heard his mother yell "Bad neck habits just like you dear!" from the hallway. He silently thanked her. He didn't want to have to lie again.

_Not ever._


	2. Dusk

**Chapter Notes:** This is where it truly begins. The rest of the chapters are not previously constructed. I released these at the same time to attempt to rope in some readers and see if it's worth continuing. Keep in mind, Sora "loves" Kairi at the moment. More like he's completely obsessed and infatuated… but there's barely a difference. Also, remember he was a kid who didn't have much of any social interaction and was babied his entire life by his parents. Nothing bad ever happened to him. Guess his luck has run out, huh?

By the way, when he thinks 'wth' he actually thinks the acronym, not what it stands for which is probably 'what the heck' in his world. What a nerrddd. :)

* * *

Chapter 2: Dusk

_Highschool: Where everything you are is decided for you._

Sora walked to school that day against his parents' wishes. He managed to convince the driver to keep quiet about it who was more than happy to take the time off and still get paid for it. Yesterday hadn't ended that great, but today couldn't be worse. _It's going to be a better day. I just know it. _He smiled, his bright blue eyes fixed on the sky. Somehow it was just nicer right then than it was looking out of a window. "Hey Sora!" He looked back down ahead of him in time to see Tidus heading over and grinned. "Tidus!" He exclaimed and without thinking moved forward and hugged the blonde earning a surprised "uh." If you hadn't gathered it already, Tidus was gay. However, that was coupled with being a homophobe due to his father's brainwashing so he grabbed Sora's shoulders and separated them who looked genuinely perplexed. Isn't that how normal friends greeted each other? He had seen a lot of " :hugs: " in the chatroom when people entered. Sora's hands were still firmly settled on Tidus's waist who didn't take long to notice and failed to conceal the blush any longer as he pulled away entirely. "Uh, yeah you are foreign huh." He reasoned judging from Sora's confusion who just rubbed his neck in embarrassment. "Why? What do you normally do?" He asked, rather than protesting being foreign. It got him out of actually explaining, so he would settle for being it. At least nobody else seemed to know he was 'rich'.

Tidus had explained quite a lot regarding greetings and such and Sora was overly grateful. He was almost tempted to hug him again, but luckily his conscious finally managed to stop something before it happened. When they were in class, they changed the subject to girls and when asked if Sora liked someone – he hesitated. He settled for a yes, but failed to provide any details other than the extent of which he liked this person. Coincidentally, he also managed to leave out the gender which didn't translate very well to Tidus. He assumed Sora might be gay, and decided to test it. "So he's really great, eh?" Sora absentmindedly answered yes, failing to catch on even when a few students behind them laughed. Luckily most just assumed he was stupid and not actually gay.

The next period was the one that Riku was in. His seat was in the very back while Sora had third row. Upon entering, Riku briefly glanced at Sora who was busy messing with his pencil again. _This thing is so awesome. _Sora smiled, having discovered something about the pencil once again. If you twisted the top, the eraser got bigger. Riku walked by him and Sora caught a whiff of smoke mixed with cologne. He froze. _Axel? _He glanced sideways he saw silver hair. He looked up but Riku didn't appear to be paying him any mind just as he hadn't yesterday. _Why does he hate me? Did I do something? Maybe it was the handshake. I'll ask him later if I can… _Sora wondered before the teacher walked in and the entire class began to whisper instead. _Hey that's weird. Why does everyone go quieter so fast in only this class? _Sora took the time to actually finally study a teacher. He had silver hair like the other two people he'd seen so he came to the conclusion that it wasn't as rare as he'd thought. He dressed formally in all black including the shirt underneath the vest. In fact, the only thing that wasn't black on him was his silver tie. He looked up and glanced around the class; his eyes finally coming to settle on Sora who didn't look away. _Blue eyes? He looks angry. Maybe it's because he's wearing all black. Black makes me angry, too. _It was only a brief period of looking, but Sora could have sworn afterwards the teacher smirked. He dismissed it and decided to attempt to make a new friend before the class actually started, looking towards the boy next to him. This boy had weird hair that didn't seem to want to decide between being blonde or brown. His skin seemed to be the same as it varied from light to pale, and he had an air of sophistication about him.

"Hey, I'm Sora." The boy looked at him, raising a brow. "Pardon?" Sora repeated himself, this time asking the other for his name. Unfortunately, amongst all of the students in this class this one happened to take it the wrong way. He chuckled, and teacher looked up. "Something funny, Balthier?" Sora looked towards the teacher to see that he was looking at the boy he was talking to. He reached up to rub his neck, opening his mouth to apologize when "Balthier" spoke up. "Not that you should be concerned, but I do believe this fellow is coming onto me." Sora paled as students looked towards them. "I wasn't! I just asked what his name was!" That didn't help at all and caused the class to explode into laughter. "What's wrong with that?!" There was even more laughing. Sora frustratingly sunk down in his seat. _Ugh. Wth, man. _The teacher actually smirked, eyeing Sora before telling the class to settle down and actually starting the lesson. Riku didn't look amused, and instead had chosen to stare out the window. Without reason, Sora glanced in his direction then to the window as well. There was a blue bird on the branch of a tree with a few green markings on its feathers. _It's the color of Riku's eyes., Maybe he wants to be a bird. He did look sad, that's what that was or…trapped. I'd want to be a bird, flying looks awe- _"Hey!" A rolled up crudely constructed paper ball fell to the floor as the brunette bitterly rubbed the back of his head, looking around but failing to pick out who'd done it.

The class was awkward as Sora could have sworn he felt people looking at him randomly during it. He was thankful when class bell rung, but was still feeling twinges of embarrassment, causing him to pack his things slowly. This turned out to be a convenience for the silver-haired teacher, and he wasn't one to not embrace conveniences. "Sora." His voice was deep and borderline aggressive, which didn't help Sora's state of mind."Um, yes Mr-" The teacher interrupted, "Call me Sephiroth." _Calling a teacher by their first name? Is that normal? _"I want to see you after lunch." Sora looked concerned for a moment, hoping he hadn't gotten into trouble.

_Did I do something? I can't remember most of the class after Balthier thought I was hitting on him. Haha, he wishes. Why would I hit on him?! I like girls! Well, a girl. No, goddess. Kairi. _

He started smiling until Sephiroth cleared his throat."Oh uh…What did I do?" He asked, and Sephiroth just waved his hand in the door's direction. Sora took that as a dismissal… a weird dismissal for a teacher but then again this teacher did seem to be weird. Something was off about him. He stood for a second just in case his assumption wasn't correct, than left the class.

_He looks mad…why can't I remember what I did?_

Lunch was decent. Sora had gotten a salad instead of an actual lunch because he didn't think he could really eat too heavily. He was still feeling embarrassed even if several more classes had passed. "Hey Sora! What's wrong?" Rikku seemed to have sensors or something because she picked it up right away. "Uh just something that happened in class, I guess." Tidus joined them shortly afterwards on the opposite side of the table. "What's wrong with you Tidy?" He glared at Rikku who knew darn well he despised when she called him that. "Geez Tidy, need a tampon?" He only glared in response. _How would that help him? _Sora wondered, as Rikku opted for talking to him because at least he just seemed upset while Tidus seemed downright hostile. "Technology is great. You can change the smallest thing and make it completely different, ya know?" Sora nodded, getting the gist of what she said. She pulled out a watch and started to explain something to him, but he only started paying full attention when her voice got noticeably quieter. "Yunie used to like the stuff I made her." Sora looked up from his salad. "Who's Yunie?" Rikku smiled, "My cousin. She's so uptight. Tidy used to like her before-" Tidus grunted and Rikku changed the subject to GPAs or something. _Something's going on… _Sora figured. Today was definitely "off" and he couldn't help but feel in the dark. Behind Sora and Rikku who were both blissfully unaware, students were glancing over and whispering. A few of them laughed, and although the two were completely oblivious; Tidus wasn't granted such a luxury. He noticed it and felt uncomfortable, but stayed throughout lunch regardless.

Sora walked the hallways slowly. He knew that the teacher would write a note or something to excuse him as late into the next class. He took the time to think about Kairi. He hadn't seen her all day and wondered what she was doing. At least he would be able to see her in the last period even if he couldn't approach her. _I wonder what she's really like… she's really nice from what I've seen, but… _He reached the teacher's door. Well more like passed it then backtracked, but he was at the door now anyways. He opened it and walked in casually placing his backpack barely to the left of the door. "Close the door."Sephiroth stated. Sora listened, closing it. "Lock it."

_Wait __what?_Sora's brows furrowed in confusion. "Why-" Sephiroth repeated himself more sternly and Sora listened this time. _Something isn't right. Get out of here, Sora. _He's a teacher, what is he going to do; lecture me to death? _Sora just listen to me, get out. _I can't disobey a teacher. _Damnit just listen to me! _That's a horrible word, don't say that. Maybe the internet is bad for you, afterall._You heard it on TV before you even got internet access. _"Sora." Due to his mind arguing with itself, Sora had completely failed to notice the teacher standing and walking over to him. "Yeah? Do you need something? Or did I…do something?" There was tension in the room and Sora picked up on it. He glanced back at the door which he only just then realized had the little window covered. _Will you listen to me now? _Sephiroth was getting closer to him. Too close actually. Sora may not have been to a public school before but he wasn't thick-headed enough not to realize there was a personal bubble that teachers weren't supposed to cross into. Sephiroth grabbed Sora's chin, forcibly tilting his head to the side. "What are you doing?" Sora demanded, glaring sideways at him. _Uh oh. Does he know what happened? _Sephiroth's face was expressionless now, and Sora was almost convinced this was another person. "Sephiroth?" He asked, which seemed to spike something in the teacher's thought or weaken his patience because he leaned down and closed his mouth around Sora's neck.

_Vampire?_

Don't be stupid, Sora. He's not a vampire and this is wrong. _Maybe he's fixing the marking. _Fixing it? Are you retarded? Sora thought up until he felt something wet drag along his skin over one of several nail markings. He paled, pulling back. He regretted this as the teacher pushed forward simultaneously and landed him against the door, and Sora's back paid for his actions. "Get off of me!" _Oh come on, do I have 'gay' written on me somewhere? _He reached down and next to him to turn the doorknob when he remembered he'd locked it. He then moved his hand along to the lock when a large hand enclosed around his wrist, pulling it upwards. He reached out with his other hand, grabbing a handful of cloth to push him away, and Sephiroth just smiled against his skin grabbing the other wrist as well. Sora resulted to kicking, in which the teacher responded to with forcing his leg between Sora's. Aside from making kicking completely useless as there wouldn't be anything but air to kick, this just so happened to entail body contact, and the young boy fell victim to a heavy blush as he realized what exactly that bulge was that was pressed firmly against him. "Stop! I'm not gay!" Sephiroth's lips left his neck as he straightened. "Neither am I." He stated, and his cold blue eyes glazed with a predatory look. I'd like to say Sora got lost in those eyes, but they just scared him into not talking. Accompanied with his stomach churning, there were various other things that he hadn't felt before. He figured they contributed to the gathering of heat in his groin as he felt himself begin to react to the situation. _No. He's going to feel it. Think of something else. Birds? Kicking birds? Can you even kick a bird? _Sephiroth was busy fixing both of Sora's wrists into one of his large hands. _I told you Sora, but nooo. _The silver-haired man shifted his leg against Sora's crotch, acknowledging that the teenager was in fact reacting, which earned the gasp he'd been seeking – bringing Sora out of his thoughts, and took that opportunity to close the distance between their mouths. He wanted to bite down, but this was a teacher. He didn't know if he'd get kicked out of the school or something, then he'd never see Kairi.

_My first kiss… it wasn't supposed to be like this, not with a teacher and certainly not with another guy._

Thoughts thereafter went foggy as the teacher's hand roamed freely against him, his leg continuing its occasional shift against him. Expert fingers found their way beneath his shirt, playing with the hairs leading underneath Sora's pants. As the hand grew closer, his pants only seemed to get smaller. His mind was far too foggy for him to think logically and instead he found himself _wanting _the hand there. In fact, unbeknownst to Sora he was actually leaning into the teacher's hands. Sephiroth was well-aware, teeth digging into the teen's bottom lip. He gasped again, and this was only an invite for the elder's tongue. Sora could only leave his mouth open as a tongue brushed against his own, slipping around his entire mouth including his teeth. Sora's own had withdrawn, and Sephiroth pulled back once he was satisfied with having tasted him. It was only after he had begun to un-do Sora's belt that reality came crashing down. "NO!" He yelled, yanking his hand downwards. Given the size of his hands in comparison to Seph's and his slippery, slippery Sora ways - he managed to wriggle his wrist out of his hold. Sephiroth pulled away, foreseeing and allowing Sora to unlock the door. He could have easily stopped him, but watching the boy frantically attempt to unlock it was amusing. As he stumbled out, his foot caught in the backpack strap and he fell forward. This was fairly lucky for him, because otherwise he would have forgotten the bag entirely. Girlish laughter rang out through the hallway and rattled his eardrum. Upon turning, he saw two girls staring straight at him. He was in a compromising position, an evident tent in his pants and his shirt pulled up as well as a small trail of blood on his lip. He paled; and it seemed to be the tenth time that day. _I can't let more people see me. _He ran towards the nearest bathroom.

_Why would he… did that happen? _Sora was faced with a dilemma. If he told anyone about what happened, word would definitely get to his parents and they would pull him out of the school. On the other hand if he didn't tell anybody … well, no. If he didn't tell anybody was just a world full of possibilities. What would happen if he did tell people was solid fact, and he figured he'd rather go with whatever the other consequence of not telling anyone was. What troubled him even more was the fact his first kiss was practically stolen. What troubled him more than having his first kiss stolen was that he'd liked what the teacher had been doing to him. And to top that off…

_They know. They all know._

There was whispering everywhere he went and laughter here and there. It had gone on ever since those two girls had seen him. In the last class, he could barely even concentrate on Kairi. Thankfully, she didn't seem to be talking about him even though he saw her friend glance towards him. He put his head down in an attempt to drown out everything and it actually did work as a temporary fix. After school, he couldn't even gather his thoughts to approach Kairi coupled with the thought he didn't even really deserve to. He had reacted to a guy touching him… He had liked it! That's bad. That's really bad. He headed down the hallway, subconsciously speeding up as he passed Sephiroth's classroom and caught sight of Tidus. Tidus! He had the answer for everything, right? He walked over to his friend and tapped him on the shoulder getting him to glance over at him. "Hey Tidus." Unfortunately that's all it was; a glance. When Tidus saw who it was, he looked away. "Tidus?" Sora asked again, but the blonde continued placing books into his locker. The hallways were starting to clear as students continued to exit and Sora failed to see the group approaching behind him. "Hello?" _Maybe I died. Maybe Sephiroth was a vampire… _He asked again, reaching out to tap him on the shoulder again when Tidus closed his locker with intention to walk away when he caught sight of exactly who was behind Sora.

"Well if it isn't the rich boy from before. Turns out you're a fag, too – huh?" Sora's hair was grabbed and he was pulled back and downwards and onto the floor. _Get out of here, now. _He wasn't going to ignore his thoughts now, and tried to get up to leave before a shoe collided with his side. Sora cried out, and two other people surrounded him. He could only judge by the shadows cast around him. Tidus was visible in front of him and yet he only stared. _Crap. Help. I need help. Can't stick around here. _He got to his feet, disregarding the stinging pain in his side as he was well aware that he needed to get out of there. When he realized he was entirely surrounded, he swung at the nearest person attempting to get them to move so he could leave. He just managed to clip their cheek, when someone pulled him back, their arms hooking underneath his own and securing Sora back against them. It turned out to be a pink-haired guy. "Pink hair?" He voiced. _They think I'm gay and there's guys with PINK HAIR?! _The pink haired guy tightened his grip, making Sora wince. With his arms rendered useless, he figured his legs would have to do and kicked mercilessly accompanied with jerking around, and the pink-haired boy just laughed into his ear. A white-haired male walked in front of him, just out of reach of the kicking. "I'm thinking of a number, what is it?" Sora stopped kicking, looking around. His eyes were pleading and anyone with eyes could see he was in distress so..

_Why isn't anybody helping? _

He caught sight of Riku next to Axel who was lighting a cigarette. Even afterwards, he kept the lighter lit. He looked over to Sora and grinned while Riku's attention was directed elsewhere. The dark-silver-haired boy from before was standing next to them as well. Sora looked back towards the white-haired guy. "Judging from your hair, is it your age? 90?" _Don't provoke him, stupid. _"My apologies, that is not the answer I was seeking." With that, his fingers closed into a fist which shortly collided with Sora's stomach, followed by a second blow landed in the same exact spot effectively leaving Sora breathless and in a crapload of pain. A deeper voice rang out in the hallway that sent a chill down Sora's spine. He looked up which confirmed his fear. It was the teacher from before and that was the last thing he wanted to see just then. If he wasn't struggling before, he sure was now. He twisted, turned, kicked, squirmed, but he was held firm. "Organization thirteen again? Take this outside, we don't need it in here. Same goes for the smoking." The boy holding Sora laughed into his ear again, "Sure thing, Seph."

With that, Sora was released and shoved forwards. When he didn't move any more, a frustrated grunt sounded and he was hoisted off the ground over the shoulder of a light-purple haired boy. Sora clawed relentlessly at the anonymous person's back, hesitating when he realized how moronic that was and resorting to his fists instead. He felt his shirt had scrunched upwards, and this made him rather uncomfortable when nothing like that ever had before. In response to the punching, he was punched hard in the leg. When he could feel the sunlight on his bare back, and the school flooring turned to grass, he was roughly dropped to the ground on his stomach. He was about to get up and run, but his view was blocked by the person with the funny bangs who he identified to actually be a girl this time due to the small, but noticeable indication of a chest. "Are you alright?" _That's a stupid question._ Her voice was sweet and misleading, her small lips twisted into a frown. "No!" Sora cried. "Do you need help?" _Of course I need help. Your friends are ganging me, sherlock. _"Yes." Sora choked out, but he was kicked in the side. The same foot rolled him over onto his back. The girl walked over in front of him and looked down, her eyes no longer laced with the compassion Sora had just gotten accustomed to. They were cold. Beyond cold. "Nobody's going to help you. Nobody likes you and nobody ever will. You're nothing." She may have overdone it, but any evidence of her caring faded to nothing as her lips slipped into a smile. The tormenting stopped, and Sora was left there on the ground staring at the sky. Somehow it seemed a little less nice then before.

"What happened to you? You look horrible!" Sora flashed a smile. "You worry too much, I'm fine. School is rough, but I'll get used to it. Maybe if you had let me exercise more and not just diet…" He complained. His mother giggled. "It looks like somebody hit you." Father spoke up. When Sora glanced over, his father's eyes were fixed on a book. "Wha? Nobody hit me. You guys worry too much." He headed upstairs to his room before they could say much more. _I lied again. _He frowned.

Once he was in his room he placed his backpack down. He actually had homework tonight, but he figured a rest wouldn't kill him. He was sore everywhere he'd been hit, and although he attempted to block out thoughts of what had happened in the classroom with what had happened afterwards, he remembered that as well. And Tidus. _Why? Why does everyone just ... just… _He stepped in front of his mirror, his hands grabbing the bottom fabric of his shirt loosely as he pulled it up. Sure enough, he was marked. Amidst the purple on his stomach there was a small trail of blood. He dropped his shirt back down and realized there was blood on the front as well. He silently thanked that it was small so his parents hadn't noticed. He reached up and touched his neck, half-expecting it to be wet. _Don't be stupid, hours passed. Geez, why can I still feel it though? _He groaned in frustration, exiting the room to take a shower. The stream of water was just a convenience, as he convinced himself he wasn't frustratingly crying. It was just barely, but there. No, it was just the water getting into his eyes. _Curse you, water. Curse youuuu._

He could fool himself for now.


	3. Habitual Fabrication

**Chapter Notes:** This chapter is a short one. Booo, suckiness. It's just bringing some people into the light who had been in the dark previously. ;D I had it half-done so don't expect other chapters to be nearly as quickly done even if they are short! The warnings for this chapter are swearing, FIRE!, and stupidity. Lots and lots of stupidity. Silly Sora.

* * *

Chapter 3: Habitual Fabrication

_To see you makes the pain bearable. _

Nobody was there to greet Sora at school this time. He walked once again, the driver not even asking this time as Sora started off down the sidewalk instead of into the car. It was considerably hot today, so Sora had on a dark blue shirt with slightly lighter blue knee-length khaki shorts. Light clothing wasn't an option as "Organization XIII" had made it so readily apparent. He had been scared last night when he'd been left to think about the next day, but he had convinced himself that lightning wouldn't strike in the same place twice. To Sora, this translated as things wouldn't go the same today. _Today just has to be better. Besides, I'll get to see Kairi! I can probably make another friend… _He stopped walking and frowned. 'Nobody likes you, nobody ever will.' _She was just being an arse._

"Hey Tidus!" Sora exclaimed cheerily when his "friend" entered the classroom. Tidus was just as confused as you probably are. He hadn't helped Sora and yet here was the brunette greeting him like nothing had happened. He looked around the classroom before taking his seat. "How are yo-"

"Look, Sora. I'm not your friend."

Sora's smile faltered. To think somebody might not be something is one thing, but to actually hear them say it - hurts. "Why? What did I do?" Tidus couldn't look at him. Instead, he stared ahead. He tried to appear unsympathetic the best he could. The truth was he actually liked Sora a lot. He liked him more then he should. Everything about him captivated him to no end and in turn this made him hate him. He knew if he was going to distance himself from the boy, he had to do it now before he was in too deep. It had only been three days and he didn't want to think what would've happened after more. "I wouldn't be friends with a fag." He bluntly stated. _That again?_"What? I'm not like that, why can't we be friends? I didn't do anything mean… I didn't-" Tidus glared ahead, his voice betraying him as it came out almost a low growl, but the small but noticeable rise and fall of his tone gave him away to everyone but Sora who was thankfully, or not so thankfully, clueless. "Just shut up. I don't want to be your friend. You can keep the pencil and shove it up your ass for all I care since you like it so much." The students who were there laughed, and Sora found himself at a loss for words. _What's going on? I didn't do anything. _Was all he could really think. He couldn't bring himself to be angry, really. He fixed his gaze forward, the laughter dying down a bit. First Riku and then Tidus. Why did everyone he became friends with start hate him? It didn't make sense. I mean, Riku even did it before the rumors and stuff. Suddenly, Sora found himself regretting requesting a seat near the front of the class. He suddenly wouldn't have minded one in the back. He wanted to feel uninvolved. He wanted to feel ignored. He immersed himself in thoughts of Kairi. It made things better. It made him forget even if it was just for a little while.

_NO. NO. NO. _Sora repeated in his mind as Chemistry class opened with Axel being transferred over. He paled as Axel overlooked the class and smirked when his eyes met with Sora's who immediately directed his gaze elsewhere. _There's no way. Why this class? _To make things worse, Axel was assigned the seat behind him. _Why? _The original owner happened to be absent, and there wasn't another empty desk in the classroom. The smell of smoke and cologne overwhelmed Sora's senses again, as Axel made his way over and situated himself behind him. _He can't do anything here, Sora. You're in class. The teacher will see. _Sora told himself, fiddling nervously with his pencil. He knew Axel was looking at him. He could feel it.

"Planning on fucking that teacher today, Sora?" Axel whispered behind him.

The color drained from his face. "I didn't!" _No, I can't defend myself. I'll never have a chance with her then… _Axel seemed to control who talked to Kairi and was his only ticket to a chance with her. "Or do you still have a thing for my sister?" _His sister? _There was a sharp pain in the back of his neck, and Sora figured it had to be the point of a pencil. He wasn't going to cry out. He knew it would draw attention to them and make him look like a pansy. He couldn't oppose him, but there were other ways to keep his dignity. Axel dug the pencil further into Sora's neck and stopped only when the teacher looked up. "Alright, I'm going to assign partners for this lab experiment." The class groaned, "I know you're all just so excited!" She started to read names off of the list, and Sora tuned out until his name was mentioned. "Sora and Axel."

_What? You're kidding, right? _

The list continued and Sora inwardly flooded with dread. How could this happen? There was like a 1/20000 chance of it and yet… _Does God hate me? _He wondered. "Aw, why do I get the fag?"Axel stated loud enough that other students picked it up but not quite enough for the teacher to hear it over her own voice. _Stop calling me that! _Laughing. "If he hits on me I'm going to break his face." _I'M NOT GAY. FUCK. _More laughing. This time, the teacher told the class to quiet down trying to figure out why they were laughing in the first place. Sora failed to acknowledge that he'd willingly cursed in his thoughts. He was downtrodden; he just didn't know it yet.

The class was hell. It started out with not-so-friendly taunting which Sora got used to. Then, the burning. Nope – not the burning hatred for Axel but actual burning. The kid was crazy! Sora fiddled aggressively with his pencil figuring he could channel his emotion into it and by breaking the lead it would slowly calm him down. That's when he felt something, though he wasn't sure what it was. He had heard an indescribable sound because he wasn't around lighters often and didn't know how igniting one sounded, but a flame sounds with words and the same to everyone. He moved to rub the back of his neck, and Axel angled the lighter just underneath it. Sora didn't move at first, welcoming the strange but almost comforting warmth on his hand. Then again, there's a saying that you can have too much of a nice thing. Without warning, the flame drew noticeably closer to the hand until the flame was entirely engulfed by his own hand and Sora yelped. Actually yelped. The teacher looked up, but the students were way ahead of him. Sure they'd known what was going to happen, but who in their right mind would oppose the pyro? "Sora, is there something wrong?" Sora's hand was in his own now as if rubbing it furiously would fix the lingering pain and burn mark. "He friggen bur-" Axel spoke up behind him, muttering something akin to Kairi and Sora got the picture and fell silent, the contortion of his face easily transferring as he faked a yawn. "Uh, no. I fell asleep. Weird dream, I guess." The teacher grumbled, asking him to at least try to pay attention.

Afterwards, Sora purposefully lagged behind everyone else. Once the room had cleared, he approached the teacher. "Um, can you change my partner?" He rubbed the back of his neck as she looked up from her paperwork, hiding the burned hand. "Why?" _Excuse. Think of an excuse. Lying again… _"He's stupid?" _That's not really a lie. _

"His grades from the last year aren't that great, that's why I'm pairing him up for you actually. You seem like you could help him."

Outside, a red-head grunted, leaning against the wall next to the door frame as he listened in on the conversation. "Stupid?" He mused, initiating a lighter's flame and dipping his fingers in subsequently. He straightened and walked off, deciding the rest of the conversation wasn't worth listening to. He'd heard what he wanted to. Sora ended up losing in the long-run, as he couldn't think of a good enough reason to excuse himself from being Axel's partner without letting on to the harassment. He even tried saying he was in the Organization XIII and that he was scared of him, but she just responded stating that she'd make sure nothing happened. "Sora, there wouldn't happen to be another reason is there? You can tell me." _No, I can't. _"No." _I have to lie. _He knew something was going to happen, but he ended the conversation with fear of the teacher actually catching on. Teachers don't go through tests and schooling to come out dull-witted. She had known already, but wasn't the kind to meddle into student's lives.

After the next class and before lunch, Sora headed to the bathroom. "Who the hell does he think he is, giving me detention?" Freeze. Upon further inspection, he saw who was inside. Although not all of the members were there that he'd seen before, more than one was more than enough to make him more than uneasy. In fact, just one made him uneasy. Axel turned around from the wall he'd been taking his frustration out on to see Sora. He flashed a grateful grin and headed towards him.

"Hey, wait. I just want to go to the bathroom. I didn't do anything!" _Oh yeah. Saying that worked before, Sora. _

Sora protested anyways, backing towards the door. _WHY?_ Axel was too quick, and grabbed Sora's shirt just beneath the collar and hurled him towards a nearby wall just as he'd turned to run out. Sora's forehead hit first as he stumbled forward into the tile; his extended arms doing practically nothing due to his poor footing. The pink-haired guy and weird-bangs girl were there from before, as was Riku who leaned against the far wall with a black-haired guy he hadn't seen before. Again, Riku avoided his gaze as Axel grabbed a handful of Sora's hair and turned his head in the direction of the two nearest the door, redirecting Sora's as well. "I think it's time for a mini introduction." Axel smirked. "That's Marluxia." The pink-haired guy nodded, "and that's Larxene." The blonde haired girl smiled and waved. "Pleasure to meet you, Sor-Ah." She said in that singsong voice of hers. _What is wrong with her? She's creepy… _ Fingers were tightened, pulling some of Sora's hair loose which withdrew a large cry of protest. That crap hurts. Sora was now forced to gaze at Riku and the black-haired guy. "That's Riku and that's Xaldin." 'Xaldin' rolled his eyes, arms crossed as he gazed onwards, appearing as uninterested as it gets. Sora's hair was released in favor of his throat again, as he was pressed back against the wall.

"And I'm stupid, according to you, isn't that right rich boy?"

_He heard me?! No way… _"I didn't mean that, I-" Sora was pulled forward, and nails dug into his throat once again. He could've sworn it was the exact same spot as before, and was beginning to detest necks. Then, his head was thrust back against the wall and Sora's vision went screwy for a brief second. He was dizzy, but knew he had to talk his way out of this. _I can't hurt him. He'll get mad and won't ever let me see Kairi. _"You're not stupid!" Sora insisted, and the grip on his throat tightened and pressed him more into the wall. "I can't b-" Sora started, but Axel didn't let up. "Oh come on Axe, you should rough him up. Strangulation is boring." Larxene complained and Marluxia just ran a hand through his hair, appearing more concerned with how he looked for the time being. Sora's face began to turn, and Axel released him, grabbing his shirt again to thrust him towards the floor, encouraging his fall onwards with a kick to his backside. Sora erupted into a fit of coughs, but no time was given to recover as Axel navigated to his side and kicked him, and Sora cried out amidst his coughing. He felt something on his back, quite possibly a shoe, as it forced him down fully against the ground. "Know your place, kid." Axel stated before backing off. "He's all yours."

The bathroom swung open just as Larxene had delivered a swift kick to his leg and rolled him over onto his back just as it had been done before. Sora attempted to block the fist to his face, but only managed to redirect it to his cheek. "Don't hurt his face, moron." Axel stated from behind her. Larxene hissed in reply, "Oh shut up and play with your lighter. I hope you set yourself on fire." Though Sora couldn't possibly have seen it, Axel produced an inappropriate gesture with his tongue that caused Larxene to scowl. A boy shorter than the other males entered. He had long black hair pulled back into a ponytail, with a disfiguring scar extending from the bottom of his face across his eye. His right one was covered entirely by an eyepatch. "What's going on here?" Larxene pinned Sora to the ground with her foot, keen to apply pressure where she knew he would have been bruised on his stomach. "Just playing with our friend, Xiggy." _"Ziggy"? Sounds like a name for a kid pirate. Fits I guess..._ "Xiggy" appeared amused, even if he secretly detested the pet name, and joined in without needing much invitation. Marluxia just watched, serving as a blockade for the door if Sora did manage to slip away.

There were only two of them, but the beating was severe. It was only ceased when Riku spoke up, coincidentally as Larxene had reached for Sora's belt although considering the fact his eyes were closed – he hadn't noticed. "The bell is about to ring. We need to get out of here." Sora was curled up, his arms shielding his head as if that magically protected the rest of his body. Larxene muttered an aw and called Riku a party-pooper, but headed for the door. She was followed by Marluxia, then Xiggy, and finally Xaldin and Axel. Riku lingered behind and walked over to Sora. There was a trail of blood from his mouth, and Riku actually appeared sympathetic until Sora's hands fell from his face in which case he forcefully reverted to indifferent-mode. He realized someone was still there, and looked up at Riku, an expectant terror in his lazuli eyes. _Don't look at me like that. _Riku thought, frowning as he pulled his hand from his hoody with intent to help Sora up who of course took it as foreshadowing for another blow, and closed his eyes. The bell rung and Axel called for Riku outside, who then re-pocketed his hand and exited.

_Why? _Again, Sora was left to wonder. Everything hurt. The only areas that didn't hurt were on his face, excluding his cheek which still stung. He couldn't get up, something he realized when he attempted to shift himself onto his side, only to fall back from the overwhelming pain. This time he had a ceiling to entertain him. _It's not worth it, Sora. _This thought caused a mixture of anger and disbelief at his own thinking. Honestly, it was like it wasn't even him sometimes. It was, but that little part of the brain everyone has but refuses to listen to usually ending them in bad situations. _Of course it's worth it. I love her. Sure this definitely sucks and I don't have any friends at the moment, but it will get better. Everything will get better when things can't get much worse, right?_

Balthier from before was the one who walked in on Sora, and despite their bad experience before had left to get help and Sora ended up being helped to the Nurse's office. The nurse gasped when first setting eyes on him, and only inquired once everyone had left the room and she'd gotten Sora's shirt off. "What happened to you?" She asked, getting a bottle of antibiotic from a shelf and dousing a rag with it. Sora gave a nervous laugh, "I fell down some stairs." The nurse didn't look convinced at all as she placed the rag to the nearest bruise on his shoulder, which caused a bizarre cry which resulted from the combination of not wanting to be loud, pain, and the betrayal of his vocal cords. "This looks like a lot of stairs the size of fists and shoes and we don't have any here." She rubbed the wound, and Sora fell quiet. _That was a stupid excuse. _"I'm going to have to tell your parents." Panic. "NO! Please don't, I'm okay. I just got into an accident but I'm really okay. If you tell them they'll take me out of the school, so please don't! I like it here a lot." He pleaded and the nurse caved. There was a persuasive cuteness about him that reminded her of her childhood sweetheart, Cloud. "You know – there's fighting classes that you can take." Sora pouted, "What?! I can fight! There were just too many of them and…" _Aw crap. _The nurse smiled, "I thought it was an accident." Sora fell silent during the rest of the treatment, cursing his stupidity all the way.

The last class he managed to see Kairi again. He had the choice to go home early but he knew his parents would have been suspicious. His midsection was bandaged up and the blood was barely noticeable in the dark shirt, so he was sure he could think of an excuse if they did say anything which was unlikely because paying attention to detail was a rarity for them. In this case, he was hurting too much to be quick enough to catch Kairi which was luck on his end because Axel appeared to accompany her from class that day. Sora missed the mischievous look in his eyes. The hallway had never seemed so long, and he caught sight of Tidus and hoped that maybe he had changed his mind. Tidus looked up and saw him, then walked off. _Nothing changed. _He sighed. He hadn't seen Rikku but because she had been Tidus's friend, he assumed she probably felt the same. With every step, Sora's body ached but he walked normally the best he could despite the pain. His backpack was only half on him, as the other shoulder ached far too much to handle the weight. The kids who didn't glare at him laughed excluding the minority of which just ignored him completely. _They don't matter, only Kairi. _He told himself, smiling. That day, he called for a driver. There was just no way he could walk home.

His parents weren't there when he arrived, and instead he was babied by a bunch of maids who were too intimidated by his parent's presence before to approach him unless ordered to. They commented on how he was adorable and offered to do just about everything for him. "No thanks," he kindly declined each. A few questioned him about if he was okay, and to each he lied. The final maid caught sight of him in front of his room. "Master Sora, there's a bruise on your face. Are you alright?" He felt sad then. Of course, lying was becoming second nature to him but her voice. The way she sounded genuinely caring triggered something in him and he could only nod before entering his room and closing the door behind him. After hearing nothing but hatred for three days, to hear that caring tone offset it just a little.

He started to cry again, but they were the type of tears that came when you're so frustratingly angry you can't contain it. He blamed himself for everything that happened and even blamed himself for the aching bruises on him. A few cuts would definitely develop into scars. He couldn't even bring himself to take a shower because everything just hurt far too badly. He knew he had homework to do, so he set his alarm and opted just to take a break or short nap if he could get to sleep. Turned out, the nap thing was out because every time he tried to get comfortable, there was a sharp pain someplace that influenced him back into his previous position.

* * *

And now for something completely different.

Riku stared up at the sky. It was clear. Normally he came here to escape, the occasional ripples of the water nearby proving comforting but it just wasn't enough. His thoughts continued to return back to the brunette and even more-so the way he had looked at him. He had never seen that look before, and although he tried to dismiss it as an expectant look he wasn't thick enough not to pick out the betrayal. He had caused that. No amount of bullying could have made him produce that stare. _He's just a kid. _Riku convinced himself, one of his legs slipping and dangling off the thick high branch of the tree. The tree was large and strange, bare of most leaves because of autumn but also having a huge branch protruding from its side at the base. It threw off the feng shui of the place but also provided a nice sitting spot. _You're a kid, too. _"I stopped it, isn't that enough?!" Riku frustratingly whispered, a red leaf falling into his lap. He moved to brush it off, but left it. _A gust of wind can't be counted on to move that leaf, and you can't just stand around and poke it a few times and expect it to. _Thoughts like these were frequent with the teen, but he defied them as he reached down to sweep the leaf off. Once the back of his hand impacted with it, it crumbled before a wind swept the pieces away. _Well what was that supposed to mean? _He glared, looking up at the sky instead. A star was there he hadn't noticed before. It was the first star of the night. One thing was clear. Sora would break if he just sat there waiting for a wind.

Riku couldn't just stand on the sidelines any longer.

It wasn't enough.


	4. The First Star

**Chapter Notes:** Okay, the last three weren't very actiony. It kind of still isn't. Oh well, it'll get better near the end. Thanks to everyone who reviewed so far and I even got a favorite! I didn't expect any at all and I can honestly say that when people like your work… It's the best feeling ever.

The warnings for this chapter are unwilling sexual activities and swearing. It's pretty clear where the first one begins so just scroll ahead. I'll put a separator before and after it just in case so anyone who wants to can navigate awaaaay. :o I suck even more at smut then I do at normal writing, so sorry about that.

This is day four by the way. I'd say school has sucked so far for Sora.

* * *

Chapter 4: The First Star

_Wishful Thinking. _

_Okay, just stay out of trouble… _Sora had himself driven as he was still sore, and once again emerged from the parking lot near the school. Contrary to yesterday, there actually was someone to greet him once he got to the school but a someone he didn't want. Well, a lot of someones he didn't want. Organization XIII members were loitering around near the school entrance. _Haha, well that's great. They won't bother me if I don't look at them maybe. _So, with that logic he cast his gaze downwards and headed towards the school entrance. Larxene blocked his path. "Hey, you're looking Sore-ah! Were we too rough yesterday?" _Gee, how clever. _A few students overheard and tuned in to the conversation. They were poor at concealing this, as they openly directed a few glances their way. "I know how you probably would have liked to meet up with that teacher of yours instead. You're cute, but I like you when you're bleeding more." _What is wrong with this girl? _Sora backed up. "Please don't." He looked up towards them and noticed Riku was the only one missing. Axel glared, "Leave the fag for later." With that, Larxene moved to the side and Sora headed inside, only to fall forward as the girl extended her leg out in front of him. Sora cried out; a mixture of surprise and overwhelming pain as he collided with the concrete, re-opening two of the wounds. "Whoops, sorry." Some of the members moved to head inside, and when Larxene followed she decided to walk on Sora's backside, even the side of his face leaving a temporary shoeprint getting a muffled groan out of him. "I hope you're as good with Seph as you are a sidewalk!" _What's that supposed to mean? _A light-purple haired boy with a majority of his face covered who Sora recognized to be the guy from before looked up for his book in time to comment on Larxene making horrid insults. He moved swiftly this time out of the way when she attempted to hit him, "Nobody cares what you think Zexion, you nerd." She retorted. Sora struggled to his feet and grabbed his backpack again, following inside.

First period, Tidus ignored him.

Second period, everyone ignored him.

Third period, everyone ignored him.

Fourth period was Chemistry, a period that Sora couldn't look less forward to. The lab tables were set up and Axel was already seated at the lab table nearest the back. As Sora walked slowly over, Axel's expression darkened. _You look just like him. You even have that same stupid dedication. You both are so fucking stupid. _Sora sat down next to Axel who immediately punched him in the side where he knew he was bruised. Sora muttered an aggravated 'ugh', and Axel smirked. _You hurt the same, too. Why did I have to make you fucking hate me to feel anything at all? I loved you, Roxas. _Punch. Sora dropped the beaker he was holding, letting out loud surprised gasp. _Then you had to go and die on me Roxas. You selfish asshole. I fucking hate you. I'll fucking hate Sora, too. _"Sora please be more careful." The teacher stated while cleaning up the glass. Sora mumbled an apology and smiled. _Don't smile like him for somebody else. You can't love Kairi. I won't fucking let you. I'll control you. _While the teacher continued to clean, Axel occupied himself with turning the Bunsen burner on and off, noticing as Sora stiffened. _You don't trust me either. Fire made him nervous, too. _

_You're close. _

_Too damn close._

Sora packed quickly when Chemistry ended and left before a majority of the class. He slowed once he was in the hallway, and visited his locker instead. The next class was his most dreaded. Sephiroth. He had avoided him yesterday because he was in the nurse's office, but today he couldn't think of a valid excuse to avoid the class. He twisted the knob to his combination, and opened the locker before stuffing his things inside. _Sephiroth isn't stupid! There's rumors about something happening, so he definitely won't say anything. He could get fired or sent to jail. _He continued to coax himself into a calm using logic, but when he stepped inside the classroom and Sephiroth turned his head to glance at him, his confidence dwindled. _He's just looking as students come in, don't be stupid. _He looked away and headed to his seat, planning to keep quiet the entire class and prevent eye contact. "Sora, perhaps you could tell us the type of soldier on page 20." He was only on page 19, and when he turned it his eyes settled on a piece of paper folded inside of it. He grabbed it, because it blocked the first word of the picture's subtitle. "Um, Corporal?"He asked, and Sephiroth confirmed before turning around towards the board. _Hey wait, my name? _Sora recognized his own name on the folded slip of paper he'd pulled out of the book. He opened it and read the light handwriting.

_See me after school._

_I don't think telling anyone is in your best interests. You might accidentally get expelled._

_By the way, I'm glad you can read captions but next time, pay attention._

Sora paled and closed the note quickly before anyone could catch sight of it. _How did he know? He planned all of this? Did she tell? Is EVERYONE in this school against me?! _The truth was, the nurse had been overheard explaining it to a friend and Sephiroth had hatched a plan then. Everything had been calculated, even knowing which book would end up in Sora's hands. The man was thorough and even when a slip-up wasn't likely, he hadn't signed his name. When the class ended, Sora didn't even bother protesting or asking the teacher to reconsider. He knew everything and Sora knew he couldn't do anything. He couldn't risk being taken out of the school even if he would have been taking Sephiroth down with him. He had to see Kairi again. He had to find a way to be with her even if he had to go through all of this. _I have to._

At lunch, Sora sat alone. Both Rikku and Tidus had relocated to a different table. He pushed his food around the plate with the silverware, lacking an appetite due to the sickly feeling of anxiety in his gut. He thought he was going to be sick, but he quelled the feeling enough to avoid vomiting.

The last class was the best. It always was. Sora entered it, and coincidentally Kairi was just leaving to the bathroom. They were face to face in the doorway, and Kairi smirked. "I…uh…" Sora fumbled with his words as he moved out of the way, his face a deep shade of red. "Sorry." Kairi walked past him, and Sora caught a scent that was a mixture of candy, flowers…and…smoke? He was intoxicated and was only brought back to Earth when the teacher spoke up. "How about zoning in your seat and not the doorway Sora?"He complied, and was basically on cloud nine the entire period. He forgot what he was supposed to be doing after school temporarily, but his dream world shattered when the last bell rung and students hastily began to exit. Sora reached into his pocket as if to imagine that the note thing had just been an illusion concocted by his uneasy mind, but his fingers closed around the folded piece of paper and his fate was sealed.

The walk through the hallway was a long one. He was slow in doing everything. Walking, putting in his locker combination, putting his things away, "accidentally" forgetting to put a book inside, closing his locker, repeat, then using the restroom. By the time he was done, there was barely anyone left in the school. He couldn't avoid it any longer, having done just about everything he could think of. He headed to the classroom, perspiration dotting the back of his neck which he was frequently rubbing. It was comforting, but not enough. The classroom was equally empty as the hallways, and Sephiroth looked up from his desk upon Sora's entry. He was nervously rubbing his arm now, looking everywhere but Sephiroth. "Close the door." Sora obeyed. "Lock it." Déjà vu, but Sora listened anyways. He turned back to face him afterwards, and only glances were exchanged. The sun's rays filtered through the glass, shedding light on the man and creating a fairly radiant Sephiroth. _Kinda like an angel…_ Sora pondered, but that idea quickly diminished once he spoke.

* * *

"Take off your clothes."

The sky-blue hopeful eyes of the brunette crossed over into a dark mixture of fear and confusion. He stood there staring at the man before his defiance and mind finally caught up to one another. "What?! I'm not doing that!" Sephiroth gazed at him with that same dead expression, detecting the hint of distress in Sora's voice. He loved it.

"Need I remind you that I can have you taken out of this school?"

Sephiroth turned in his swiveling chair to face him, his large fingers laced into one another settled in his lap. Sora knew that if it ended up being his word against Sephiroth's, regardless of his parents love for him they just wouldn't believe him. His mother would grasp onto the lies he'd constructed up until that point because she would never dream of him lying to her and he wasn't even sure what his father would do. It was a chance he couldn't take. His hands started to tremble as he raised them to the first button just underneath his collar of his shirt. A faint shade of scarlet crept onto his features as he realized he would be naked if he did have to go through with it.

"Isn't there something else I can do? I…I can pay you or something."

This was true. He wasn't one to use money to get out of a situation, but this was one time he guessed he would have to make an exception. All he received was a glare in response, so he opted for turning around and undressing then instead. He didn't have much confidence in his appearance, especially after all the bruises. He had been called cute and adorable a majority of his lifetime, but after everything that had happened he was beginning to think they were just being nice. _Okay. Maybe if I do this slow enough he'll get anno- _"Turn around. Don't be coy." The voice behind him ordered. _Oh come on... _He ended up complying. _Guys CAN'T have sex, right? Yeah… there's no way… we don't have those parts. So, I just have to undress. It's not that bad. _It was bad and he knew it but his mind had divided as a last minute coping mechanism. His hands chose to be incompetent then, a mere convenience in the situation so the slow manner in which he actually began to undo the buttons appeared to be legit. Patience wasn't Sephiroth's strong suit, but to see the boy tremble in front of him persuaded him into bearing with it.

Sora had tried to hold out for as long as he could, but eventually the shirt ended up on the floor beside him. He looked up to see what the teacher was doing, because he'd fallen silent and wasn't complaining. He immediately wished he hadn't. Sephiroth had decided to find another persuasion method which entailed stroking the growing erection through his pants. He continued on shamelessly even with the teen staring which Sora, of course, didn't know he was doing. "Keep going." He instructed, bringing him back to Earth. Sora's expression twisted when he realized he had been looking, and he directed his embarrassed gaze downwards only to see that he hadn't only been looking. He'd been reacting. _He'll see if you take them off. No wait… he could tell now… _"I, uhm. I can't." Sephiroth repeated himself more sternly and that was a rare sort of event with the man. Sora hadn't noticed, but he was actually enduring quite a lot for him. _Just do it. Don't think about him. Think about something else, Sora. Birds? Birds are nice. Origami birds… Constructing origami birds? Construct. Working. Working hard… Hard. AGH. _Sora's brows furrowed as he began to work on his belt, unable to deny his own arousal but able to scramble his thoughts enough to distance himself from the situation a little. Again, he was thankful for having dressed the way he had today even if he'd gotten some strange looks earlier. The zipper followed shortly after and soon his pants were discarded just beside his shirt. _There. He said "take off your clothes." Loophole! _

"Come here."

Sora's shivering figure slowly walked towards him. He figured there was no use in protesting because it was pretty clear he wasn't getting out of this. However, approaching a taller and considerably stronger male while you're in boxers was less than heartening. Once he was within reach, Sephiroth didn't waste time in grabbing the teen's boxers and depriving him of his final protection. 

Instantly, Sora's hands were covering himself, but the teacher would have none of that as he grabbed his wrists and pulled them to his sides. _Don't stare. _Sora could do nothing but silently plead with his own body not to react to the gaze which just outright disobeyed him. "Kneel." _That's weird. _Regardless of how peculiar the order was, he lowered to the ground and regained the freedom of his wrists. Sephiroth stood, the chair wheeling backwards as he did so and Sora found himself eye level with the man's crotch. "Return the favor." Another order, but this one left Sora briefly perplexed. It was only when his mind slipped back into acknowledging his arousal that he realized Sephiroth had meant to remove _his _boxers. "Why?!" He didn't know what was likely to follow, but he didn't care. He didn't want to see what was underneath them. Asking the question proved not to be worth it as he received a hard slap to the face which caused him to cry out in aggravation. "What was that for?" The first seemed to just be a warning because this one actually produced a less pleasant cry of pain and a serious stinging in his cheek. Sephiroth's aforementioned strength wasn't just an exaggeration, and the stinging almost caused Sora to cry from the stinging near his eyes. Almost.

Sora finally obeyed, tugging the elder's boxers down and anticipation hit when he actually did set sight on his arousal. He felt a twitch from his own and looked away. He wasn't given much time to himself because his chin was grabbed and face pulled back into its original position. "Use your tongue." That was all he stated and once again Sora was left confused. When his chin was released he was faced with the large erection again, and the reality of what he'd meant set in.

Now, Sora wasn't knowledgeable about sex but he could figure things out given time. He opened his mouth to refuse but the stinging in his cheek made it readily apparent that wasn't going to get him anywhere. So instead, he leaned forward and licked the entirety of Sephiroth's length who groaned in response. Sora realized he had some control over the situation, even if it wasn't the best kind. His own trembling inexperienced hand grabbed the base of Seph's cock as he licked around the underside of the tip causing another groan. He dragged the wet appendage along the side and when he found himself at the tip again he acted on pure instinct and rose and lowered his head – closing his mouth around it and licking wherever he could reach.

_Wait, what am I doing?! _

He moved to pull away coincidentally just as Seph grabbed the back of his head and forced the throbbing appendage to the back of Sora's throat who gagged and pulled back harder in response, though it was useless against the other man. "Wait." Sora attempted to talk, but if you've ever had a lot of something in your mouth you'd know that it doesn't exactly come out understandable. His tongue was forced against the underside of his erection, and when Sora didn't continue- Seph decided to take things into his own hands. He grabbed Sora's hair with his other hand as well and pulled out just barely just to move forward just as quickly. Sora's hands grabbed for Seph's waist to push him away, but he only pulled back and thrust back into his mouth. The thrusting became more frequent as Sora could only fight the urge to vomit or bite down. "Swallow it." Seph's voice was weary, but he didn't let up. 

Sora wasn't left to wonder what he meant for very long as an orgasm erupted into his mouth. He gagged as Seph pulled out, only managing to land the rest on the teen's face. Sora _did _swallow the best he could, but some still drained from his mouth and everything hit home.

_That was disgusting. You… you….. had him in your mouth. A guy. You are a fag. You fucking swallowed it! _

* * *

Sora was dressed now. His own erection had died just as quickly as it'd started, and he'd managed to wipe his face off with tissues. Sephiroth had dressed more quickly than he could and only stayed behind to lock the door after Sora exited. The sun was dying, along with something inside the boy. He said nothing, and Sephiroth didn't break the silence either. Sora quietly headed outside of the classroom, deep in thought. _He… How could I…? That was disgusting…_He clutched the strap of his backpack tightly, even clawing at it in a brief unrestrained wave of anxiety. _You swallowed…ugh. _As he recalled, he dove into the nearest bathroom and emptied the contents of everything he'd ingested that day (so mostly stomach acid…) into the toilet. He didn't cry this time, but he felt a different kind of sadness. It was a helpless sadness; the kind you get when you think of something you can't take back. It was the kind where you're feeling trapped when it's not really your fault, but good luck convincing yourself otherwise.

He exited the school a troubled boy, and was surprised yet dismayed when someone walked up to him. He looked up, and it didn't take long for him to realize who it was. _Riku? Great. Not right now, please. _"Um, I'm really tired… can you do what you want to do tomorrow, please?" Sora pleaded, honestly worn out in more than one way. Riku quietly eyed him for a while, picking out Sora's unusually spiked hair and the fact there was one button in his shirt undone. An awkward silence ensued, but he took a pass on making the situation even stranger and continued on instead.

"I just want to talk to you."

_Talk to me, hahaha yeah right. The rest of the Organization is probably around the corner. _"Why? You're one of them, I'm not stupid." Sora cast a lazy glare of distrust, but Riku only reached down and grabbed the bottom of his hoody lifting it up and over his head. He tossed it onto the ground. "And now I'm not." Sora's stomach chose then to growl. He'd just thrown up and hadn't eaten anything the entire day, so you can't exactly blame it. "Want to go get something to eat?" Sora did blame it, though. "I don't have any money right now. Sorry." He rubbed the back of his neck, and Riku laughed. He'd never heard Riku laugh before or even talk normally for that matter, so it lowered Sora's guard a little. "Just because you're rich doesn't mean you have to do everything for everyone, come on. I know a good Chinese place." He turned around and started off towards the sidewalk. Sora hesitated, but followed anyways. It was probably a trap but… he just didn't care anymore.

The so-called Chinese restaurant actually looked nice. There were paper lanterns outside, and the inside looked fairly traditional._ This is a weird place to ambush someone. Embarrassing public announcement or something? _Sora silently figured. He didn't trust Riku, and you couldn't blame him just like you couldn't blame a stomach for acknowledging its absence of sustenance. They sat down at a table next to a window, and Sora just glanced down at the menu with no intent to order anything. A waitress came over and gave them both glasses of water before saying she'd be back to take their orders. "Sora…" Riku's voice sounded different, causing him to actually look up from the menu and at him. "Why are you doing this? Why are you putting up with everything?" Sora looked to the side, grabbing for the glass over water. He picked it up with intent to drink it, but only ended up setting it back down and plucking at the side of the glass. "I …uhm." He thought back to Kairi when he'd first seen her. He thought of when she'd smiled at him followed by the smirk earlier that day.

"I love her. Kairi, I mean. I… can't even really explain it."

He fell silent as the waitress returned, and Riku spoke up as Sora gazed back down to the menu. "I'll have Kung Pao Chicken and Sora?" Sora looked up. "I can eat at ho-" Riku rolled his eyes, "Come on, it's not going to make me homeless or something." Truthfully, Sora wasn't sure he was ready to ingest anything. The waitress giggled and Sora rubbed the back of his neck, digging into it. "Uhm, lemon chicken looks…really good then…I guess…please." Riku smiled. Sora was cute, but he certainly wasn't going to tell him that. "Alright, lemon chicken for him then and some fortune cookies. Thanks." Riku figured he might like that and they were free with main dishes anyways. The waitress jotted it down stating it would be ready shortly and if they needed anything – to not hesitate to ask. "So, go on." Riku rubbed at his chin before crossing his arms on the table. "Well… It's weird but I just like her so much. I haven't even spoken to her before and…I just care about her. I don't want to be taken out of school because then I wouldn't see her again…" Riku knew this feeling all too well.

Food arrived, but Sora just stared at his own. "Why are you in the Organization XIII?" Sora turned the tables, catching Riku off-guard who raised a brow in response. _I'd rather ask why you completely ignored me when I needed your help, but yeah… _"Uh, there was a kid in it before me. Roxas. He was number 13 before I got in." Sora's face scrunched up in confusion when he didn't continue. "That doesn't explain why you're in it," he complained. Riku looked out the window. "I'm looking after Axel. He took Roxas leaving pretty hard." That was half of the truth at least. He frowned and decided to turn the conversation spotlight back to Sora. "So how's your life, rich boy?" Riku asked, starting on his food. He ate while Sora started on and boy did he talk. He'd complained about Yuffie, but he was just as bad. The truth was, he finally had someone to talk to who _wanted_ to hear about him or at least appeared they did. He explained how he was homeschooled, the chatroom business, his twin sister who had died at eight which caused his mother to baby him, relatives, the garden he helped water sometimes, just about everything. He finally started to touch his food a little bit into the conversation and began to smile the way he had when Riku had first seen him. He noted he liked that smile, and that Sora looked much better. He didn't want Sora to look any other way again.

"There is a true and sincere friendship between you both."

Riku smiled which was nothing compared to Sora's grin. "Yeah see, that's proof enough isn't it?" Riku stated, balling up a napkin and dropping it onto his plate. Sora's eyes trailed to Riku's fortune cookie that remained untouched. The path of his eyesight was followed, and Riku reached over and broke it; pulling out the small slip of paper and taking his time in actually starting to read it. "What?" His eyes narrowed in disbelief, and Sora reached over and snatched the piece of paper from Riku. "It's the same thing!?" He grabbed his own and compared the two. Riku was donning a puzzled smile. "That's like a one in a million chance!" _Haha, so it is… _Riku thought, stroking the ice cube in his glass with his finger.

After dinner was paid for, Riku walked Sora home. Their conversations varied from Balthier the snob to stars and death. It was revealed that Sora believed in heaven and hell, but not in God. "I just don't think that one person could come up with so much beauty on his own." Riku couldn't take his eyes off of Sora, contributing to the conversation but stole glances whenever he could. He didn't even know why. Sure, he liked the kid and protected him but he was pretty sure that was just a brotherly kind of like, right? Yeah. They reached the outside of his house, and Riku remained behind as Sora made his way to the door. "Big house," He laughed, "See you later then." Sora turned around and walked back over to him, grabbing his arm and pulling him over to the door. "You have to meet my parents at least." Sora announced and knocked on the door before Riku could give a response. He could only stand there awkwardly, Sora's hand fell downwards slightly and closed around his wrist as the door opened and they were facing a tall brunette woman with her hair tied up in a bun. She had the same blue eyes as Sora and beamed when she noticed Riku.

"You brought a friend?!" She exclaimed.

Sora didn't know why she had opened the door as opposed to a maid. Fate, maybe? "You should have called if you were staying out late, Sora." She scolded him before moving aside leaving room for Sora to walk in pulling Riku in behind him. "Where's Dad?" He asked, as he finally let go of Riku's wrist much to his dismay. "He's finishing up some work, does your friend want to stay for dinner?" Riku finally spoke up after the situation became less…overwhelming. He wasn't used to friendly adults and even less so being in a gigantic house. "I uh, I'm Riku. Sorry I didn't really introduce myself." He laughed nervously. "And I'm Sora." Sora piped in. If you hadn't caught on, he had completely managed to forget anything that happened that day before meeting Riku after school. "Well Riku and Sora, would you like to stay for dinner?" Riku wanted to, he really did, but he knew it was getting late and Sora probably had homework to do. "We already ate, actually. Thanks anyways. I'd better go, it's getting late." Sora's mother frowned and quietly whimpered a little 'aw' before a maid called from the kitchen that she a "Mr. Smith" was calling. "Well goodbye Riku, nice meeting you." With that she left, leaving Sora and Riku alone. "Um, see you later then."Riku repeated. Sora couldn't seem to decide between a sad expression or happy one. "Riku…are we…friends now? Like, really friends?" A genuine smile snuck up on Riku, as his irises crossed over to green.

"Yeah. We always were."

With that, he left.

In bed, Sora stared at the ceiling. Sure, for a second there he had forgotten everything that happened but when you're left with nothing to think about but the past few days – memories come back to you. He remembered Sephiroth and touching him. He grabbed a pillow and smothered his face in it as if it would negate all thoughts. The only thing it managed to do was impair his breathing. Rolling over onto his backside, his mind drifted more. _I wonder if Riku will really be my friend again tomorrow. Maybe this isn't a lie. _

_Maybe just this once it can be real. _

He dosed.


	5. A Love Unrequited

**Chapter Notes:** I figured the last one wasn't a good enough cliffhanger so I poofed this one up. DUN DUN DUNNN. School starts tomorrow for me so chapters won't be coming up nearly as fast…

Ohyeaah and the warnings for this chapter are "willing" rape and swearing. I'll put up the separators if you want to skip it again. It's the first two. The next chapter is worse. :(

Thanks again for reading!

Poor, poor Sora.

* * *

Chapter 5: A Love Unrequited

_Things aren't always as they seem._

Sora stared blankly at the mirror, almost expecting something to happen. A towel was around his waist, and he hadn't exactly looked at himself since he started going to school excluding when he checked his outfit. _He probably just chose me because I'm the only moron who would do it. _His gaze lowered and his hands lowered to the towel with intent to remove it, but upon remembering how he'd reacted yesterday he suddenly found himself loathing that area of his body altogether. He exited the bathroom into his room and got dressed quickly.

_At least I'm not that sore now._

He collected the scattered paperwork on his bed, placed them in their rightful binders, and shoved them into his backpack before swinging it onto his shoulder and heading downstairs. "Master Sora, breakfast is ready." A maid just happened to be heading to his room by request of his mother to tell him. It was the same maid from before. "You don't have to call me master. You can just call me Sora. I'll pass on breakfast, thanks." He smiled and walked by her. "Sora, you should eat. It's not good to skip breakfast." His hand hovered over the doorknob before he turned to her and the intensity of his smile dwindled just a bit. "Thanks." He opened the door and froze, not managing to comprehend what the woman behind him had said.

"Riku? What…what are you doing here?"

Riku was standing just outside the door appearing to have just been intending to ring the doorbell. He wasn't wearing the black hoody still, but there was a gray one in its place. His pants looked rather faded and Sora could have sworn he'd been wearing those same pants since he first saw him. Then again, guys don't really need fifteen pairs of pants.

"Uh, I thought maybe I'd walk you…or … y'know.. say-"

He didn't get to finish that sentence. Sora forgot the social norms at that moment and darn near tackled the other teen who stumbled back in surprise. Riku stood there for a second collecting himself before he loosely wrapped the arm that wasn't restricted by a pocket around him. The maid behind them appeared to be smiling just as a tall man entered the room. Sora sharply pulled away and blocked his view before he could get a good look. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. It's the … I was-" Riku smirked, "It's fine. Just try not to knock me over next time." Sora stared at him as though trying to assess the situation.

_Is this for real… or not?_

Riku moved to his side and closed the door behind them and started off down the walkway. "Coming?" He snapped out of it and followed closely behind.

On the way to school they ended up talking a lot yet again. Riku brought up how late Sora was, but he'd managed to derail it by calling Riku a stalker for waiting outside that long. "You don't have to walk with me...um, in school I mean." _If you're going to leave just do it now… _Sora rubbed the back of his neck as they approached the large building as the other male scoffed. "What, you don't want to be seen with me?" He paled, "No! That's not what I meant. There's rumors and stuff about me and I don't want to ruin your reputation or something. It's okay, really." Riku fell quiet as they continued to walk towards the school. _Why are you like that? Why do you care about other people so much? _He wondered as inconspicuously as he could; eventually failing to conceal an astonished chuckle.

"Don't be a moron."

Riku didn't just walk Sora to school, he decided to stick by him to his first class just to prove he didn't really care. Sora slowed as they neared it and a few organization members came into view leaning against a few lockers nearby it. Of course, the other noticed this and grabbed Sora's arm and pulled him forward who was forced into keeping up. "So you were a fag too, eh Riku? I knew there was something weird about you." Marluxia glared as his opponent just rolled his eyes. "You're one to talk. You spend more time on your hair than any girl I know." Sora snickered, choking when Larxene cast a gaze his way and quieting down. "The walking sidewalk and the replacement? What a fitting couple! Rubbish stick together, eh?" _Why does everyone think I'm gay? I love Kairi… Kairi. _He frowned. _After what you did yesterday … I don't know… _"Rubbish sticking together? Coming from Organization XIII? I'd say that's a little ironic." He turned to Sora and smiled, "See you later then." With that, he walked off leaving a very frustrated Larxene and baffled Marluxia behind. Farther down, Axel scowled as he closed the lid of his lighter.

Sora walked into the classroom, dropping his backpack gracefully next to his seat before situating himself at his desk. He couldn't help but smile. Sure, he hadn't seen Kairi in a while and that was the main source of any glimmer of happiness in the past few days – but he had a friend. He really had one. Next to him, Tidus glanced sideways at him. _At least he's happy now. _He sighed. He hadn't liked closing Sora out and seeing him with Riku just allowed regret to seep in. There was nothing he could do now. Everything that had happened was encased in stone, and his father wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

Chemistry was bearable if you based it solely on abuse or the lack thereof. To Sora, it was even worse than when he was getting hit. He was beginning to suffer from paranoia and when Axel didn't immediately start to torment him he began worrying. He'd occasionally run a hand through his hair and paid special attention to the air for the scent of smoke. Minutes continued to pass and Sora finally felt himself beginning to relax when he felt the back of his shirt being grabbed and he was suddenly pulled backwards. His head hit the front of Axel's desk roughly and he was forced to stare up at him. Once again, there was that same look of recognition. This time, it wasn't accompanied by much of anything. "Come here afterschool. I have a deal for you … about my sister." Axel released him and in a wild attempt to rebalance himself, Sora ended up colliding with his own desk. He muttered an "ow" before actually beginning to mull things over. _He didn't have to be so dramatic… A deal? Kairi… Maybe he'll let me be with her… Riku. Riku probably talked him into it! If I could just tell her how I feel… _He zoned for the rest of the class, thinking up several possibilities varying from Kairi smiling to kissing him. Not once did distrust dilute his thoughts.

The bell had rung and the color drained from Sora's every feature when he realized where he was going to be heading to next. He felt like vomiting, but managed to counter the feelings with thoughts of possibilities for "the deal." It helped, but it didn't change anything. He held out as long as he could just as he'd done before, visiting his locker and even the bathroom. _The break between classes seems longer today… _He didn't mind as he exited the bathroom and slowly made his way to the classroom and inside. Sephiroth instantly looked at him when he entered. _No. He's just looking at people as they come in. Yeah. _He rubbed the back of his neck and clutched his backpack strap tightly until he set eyes on a certain silver-haired guy where Balthier should have been. _Riku? _

He walked over and sure enough, that's who it was. "What are you doing here?" The bell rang, but students continued to talk. Sephiroth always started the actual lesson late. "I switched with Balthier. I had to tell him you really were gay, though." Sora's face contorted, "W-what?!" _No. Not that again. Don't … _Riku let him panic for a while as he rested his chin in the palm of his hand before he told the antsy kid he was kidding.

"Alright class."

Sora muttered jerk to Riku before directing his attention to the front where he found Sephiroth to be staring directly at him. If he wasn't fidgety before, he sure was now. Riku only had a side view of Sora, but he noticed the interaction and immediately sensed something wasn't right. A short busty black-haired girl stood as if on cue and began to hand out books. Once his arrived, Sora began to tap his pen on the desk. _That was probably it. He wouldn't do that again. _Tap. Tap. Tap. _Definitely not. _"Turn to page 30, everyone." Taptap. Taptap. Sora's book remained untouched and his desk paid the price. "Sora, page 30."

_Ignore him or something. No, you know what he can do. Augh… No. _

Riku's book was just as equally unopened as Sora's was, and yet Sephiroth directs his attention to him? _Something's definitely going on. Sora was late afterschool, too. _Riku decided to test something and, acting solely on a hunch, quickly opened his own book to page 30 and handed it over to Sora. "That book looks like it's having trouble opening, trade? I can give yours a shot." The look of relief and appreciation in the other's eyes was enough to confirm his godly intuition. Sora reached over to his original book, but before he could touch it- Sephiroth spoke up. "That won't be necessary. Outside please, Riku." Riku smirked at Sora before standing and exiting. Sephiroth followed suit.

Only Sephiroth returned.

Sora had hurried out of the classroom before Sephiroth could call him back. He had escaped it for now, but… _Where are you? _He'd scanned the hallways on the way to lunch and once there, he only managed to anxiously poke his food. He was sure that Riku would have shown up to lunch because only the Organization skipped it and he wasn't part of that anymore, right? He wasn't quite in tune with his 'other' senses, but it was natural to worry regardless of if you felt a valid reason to. He ended up skipping lunch as well, unable to eat despite his stomach's incessant persuasions.

The next classes were uneventful as was expected. Other students didn't see it to be necessary to torture him outside the sight of Organization members or corrupt teachers. Sora was heading to his final period, making a stop at his locker. Subconsciously, it was to get a last look around for any sign of Riku. Unfortunately, there wasn't any indication of him even still being at the school. _What did Sephiroth do… No… He wouldn't have done something to Riku. He's corrupt but not stupid. Riku wouldn't have let anything happen to him. _Sora opened the locker, fumbling with the dial and having to restart to '0' more times than he would have liked but opening it all the same. After he was satisfied with how light his backpack was, he headed off towards his last class. He had to admit, things were starting to look up. Axel didn't seem to hate him anymore, Sephiroth's attempt was throttled, and he might even get to be with Kairi. He'd settled for even only getting to talk to her.

Kairi was in the last class and, of course, Sora was temporarily distracted from every other problem with the sight of his red-haired goddess. There was something off about her that he just couldn't place and her brown haired friend had cast a few glares his way. Or at least, he thought they were glares. He wasn't as sharp as he'd like to be._Yeah. Notice all you want, I won't stop looking. Geez…I know. I know you can talk to her, stop shoving it in my face. _At one point he narrowed her eyes at her against his better judgment, but she only half-smiled. The final bell rung and students immediately began packing. Sora himself could barely hear what the teacher was saying about homework and he had actually been somewhat trying. Due to the fact they could actually talk now, he managed to overhear Kairi. "I have a chorus rehearsal after school, I'll catch up with you later, Selphie." Selphie whined and they exited, Sora lagging behind as he always managed to somehow accomplish. He couldn't shake a foreboding feeling, but he couldn't place it either. He zipped up his backpack and exited; Kairi and her friend already fully out of sight. _Girls move fast… _Ah well, it didn't matter. He had somewhere to go.

_Deal…It probably has to do with money. Axel seems like the type to use his own sister for that. _

Sora's expression darkened for a moment, as he navigated through the hallways. There were still quite a few students left in the school. He gathered it probably had to do with that "chorus rehearsal" aside from the fact school had JUST ended. _I bet she sings like an angel. _He stumbled with that thought, having to grab the staircase railing to steady himself again. Once he was up the stairs, the school was noticeably emptier. In fact, Sora's curiosity got the best of him and he glanced inside of a few classrooms on his way to the end of the hallway. _Chemistry is really far away. Whoever makes schedules must hate me… hey, it's pretty empty. That's weird. _The only classrooms that showed any sign of life were the two he first encountered. One had a student and another he couldn't tell but thought someone might be in the back of the classroom.

"So you came?"

Sora froze, wondering how he could have possibly missed seeing someone at the end of the hallway when it was empty. Looking up, and sure enough it was Axel. "Uh, yeah." Sora coughed when Axel drew closer causing smoke and that same cologne from before to overwhelm his senses. He briefly wondered if Axel wore "Axe," but his smile at the thought went unnoticed as Axel fished a key out of his pocket and headed to the classroom next to Chemistry. Sora followed shortly behind, rubbing the back of his neck in anticipation. "So what-" Before he could even finish that sentence, Axel had unlocked the door and pushed it open. He stepped to the side and to allow a very wary Sora to head in before him. "Why do we need to be in a room?" He looked around and no one else seemed to be there, but it was still suspicious. Axel discreetly closed the door – not even a click seeming to sound, and locked it before Sora even turned around to face him. It was clear no one was getting out unless the pyro willed it so. "So no one can overhear us…" He started.

"You love my sister, right?"

Sora instantly beamed. Any suspicious air about the room was smothered by the intense burst of delight from the teen. "Yeah! Geez, I can't even really say it… Haha, déjà vu. I just … I love her! It's not because of money or anything…" Unfortunately, the delight didn't penetrate Axel's natural bubble of spite and instead served to feed it. He hid it well by lighting a cigarette. At least, he thought it was well. Luckily for him Sora was as dense as it gets, so he probably wouldn't have noticed anyways. When he felt he couldn't take any more of Sora's rambling, he flat-out interrupted him in the nicest tone he could muster. "Well I was thinking. If you can do one thing for me to prove it, then I'll let you hang around her." Sora's smile seemed to struggle between a grin and frown. "I'll do it." He decided ahead of time. He was doing all of this for Kairi and nothing was going to dissuade him from his goal now.

Axel seethed, grinding his teeth without notice. It was only when he'd bent his cigarette which forced him to drop it and stomp it out that he realized just how angry he was. Sora was silently thankful, because he wasn't fond of the smell. He'd thought the smoke might kill him, but if that wasn't going to then anticipation surely would.

"Alright, get undressed."

Sora's face twisted into despair as his backpack slid off of his shoulder due to the sudden loss of his ability to hold onto the strap. "W-what? You're joking, right?" He was sure that Axel could have heard his heart pounding. Hell, his own ears were hurting. _He had to have heard about the Sephiroth thing… He's just making fun of me. _Sora paled as a new overpowering dread overcame him as he finally started paying attention to Axel. He was giving him that same look as the first day they'd met. It was that same distraught recognition laced with that same arcane _hatred. _

"I suggest you try to entertain me, too. If you do well enough, I'll let you do more than just hang around her. How's that?"

"Y-you're not gay, though, right? Can't I just…give you money. That's what you really want, isn't it?" Axel pushed himself off of the wall and stepped towards Sora who was understandably petrified with a combination of uncertainty and plain terror. By the time he realized he needed to move, it was too late. Axel reached for him and even though Sora managed to dodge by ducking downwards and heading towards the door, he was grabbed by the arm and next thing he knew he was on the floor with Axel's knee securing him in his place. "So you do think you can buy her with money?"

Distress.

Sora loved Kairi if somewhere amidst this story you had failed to realize this. However, going through that ordeal with Sephiroth had already scarred him. He had managed to somewhat repress the thoughts, but here he was in the same situation. It was all for Kairi. _I love her…why is everyone using her against me? _Axel's smirk wavered when he recognized that look in his eyes. It was that same look of pain and unease. He was even trembling.

_Just like him. Just… _

* * *

"I didn't mean that… I'll do it, okay? That's all I have to do, right?" Sora turned his head and looked towards the back of the classroom to avoid Axel's gaze, but the fall and crack of his voice had given the pyro confirmation of his thoughts. Sorry to say, but it also ate away at his self-restraint. As far as he was concerned, Sora _was _Roxas just then - triggering memories that began to cloud his mind. The very memories he'd tried to repress and yet they resurfaced each time in compromising situations. The thin line between sanity and the purple haze that was his mind withered and left him in an aware yet dazed state. He reached down and wrapped his hand around Sora's neck and leaned down setting his focus on the bridge between his neck and shoulder. He only managed to flick his tongue against his skin once before Sora panicked and grabbed for the Axel's arm. He pulled, but the grip only tightened which served as a warning. "This wasn't part of the deal, Axel!" He shrugged his shoulder to derail the teen's actions but he only moved to his collarbone which was visible due to a few of Sora's buttons becoming unfastened during the tussle to the floor.

"I'm a guy… why would you do want to do this!?"

Honestly. After being called a fag for so long, mainly by members of Organization XIII, it was understandable to think that they were homophobic or something. For Axel, this couldn't have been farther from the truth and Sora was discovering this the hard way. The other members assumed his targeting other males was just for sport, and he gave them no reason to think otherwise. It was just a new and one of the worst ways to torture someone, he'd explained. Until that blonde-haired kid came along… "This is the new deal." The hand that had gripped Sora's neck abandoned its place and headed downwards. His grip on Axel's arm tightened as fear grasped him who just bit down in response before hissing against his neck.

"You want to be with her, right?"

_Why. Why do I always end up in these situations? _His grip loosened as silent understanding kicked in. _It's Kairi, so it's worth it … right? Right. No hesitation. For Kairi. _When he had given in, Axel's arm or wrist more accurately left the grip altogether and snaked downwards and underneath Sora's shirt who shivered involuntarily in response. _For a pyro his hands sure are cold…gah. _Although he moved to stop Axel from caressing a certain spot he was sure he shouldn't have reacted to unless he was a girl, but he remembered and instead clutched the nearest thing which happened to be the other's shoulder who was still working at his neck. Sora began to attempt to shut down.

_Don't react. Don't think about anything. _

Axel bit down hard and Sora was snapped out of his thoughts and back into reality as though he'd sensed it. He wasn't going to grant Sora that luxury. Not today.

Not a second time.

Sora writhed uncomfortably as Axel turned his attention on the other sensitive nub of flesh, and despite redirecting his thoughts to less pleasant ones in an attempt to distance himself from the situation – Sora was reacting. _He's only touching me. He's not even doing anything..argh, what's wrong with me? _Axel withdrew entirely and stared down at him. His eyes were narrowed, and his expression could be described as nothing short of possessive lust. "What are you going to do?" _At least tell me… _But no, Axel didn't grant mercy in that department either. Instead, he reached a decision on debating whether or not he wanted Sora's clothes off.

"Hey, take off your shirt."

With that, Axel removed the knee that secured Sora's position and moved just in front of him who started to shake again, just barely, with agitation. He didn't like being ordered around. He never had, actually. The fact he was no longer comfortable with his own body didn't aid the situation, but he sat up and began to comply, only to be interrupted by Axel. Apparently, he had decided that Sora was far too slow. After the shirt was discarded, he gave a rough tug at the teen's khaki's. Sora cooperated for the time being, pushing upwards with his palms to lift himself just barely off of the ground and allow his pants to be removed. He regretted it, because he'd forgotten about how aroused he'd gotten. Leave it to Sora to forget something like that. He couldn't calm himself because there was something extremely sexual about the situation, and the desperate manner in which Axel was trying to get him undressed was disquieting. Sora intercepted Axel's hands as they headed for his boxers, and stared at him. "Axel, WAIT. At least tell me what-" He pulled his wrists back and out of Sora's grip and grabbed his shoulders, pushing him backwards and effectively managing him down onto his elbows. Although he was going for flat on the floor, he wasn't calm enough to keep going and moved back to Sora's boxers before he could be stopped again. He pulled them down and off in one grand tug leaving a revealed Sora to sit up and attempt to cover himself.

"AXEL."

Raising his voice didn't help at all. This was one high he couldn't figure out a way to bring Axel down from. He still had arrogance in his every action, but he didn't seem to be himself. In fact, he didn't even seem to know who he was with. He moved just between Sora's bent legs and reached over. He traced Sora's lips before forcing two fingers into the boy's mouth. Of course, Sora defensively reached up with both of his hands to pull them out – mostly because of the unpleasant memories revolving around something being in his mouth that wasn't his own, and Axel took the opportunity to wrap his fingers around Sora's newly exposed erection. The pyro's fingers only distorted the strangled moan from Sora's throat even further who reddened once the sound reached his own ears. _Did I… no! Don't react…_His mind could have protested all it wanted to, but once Axel began to pump his hand his every thought was overruled. His eyes squeezed shut and almost immediately he started to pant, and although he wasn't fully aware of it- his mouth began to salivate as the position of Axel's fingers alternated out and back in. In an attempt to keep from drooling when he finally did realize it, he tried to keep his mouth closed around them but when Axel's hand suddenly sped up- he just couldn't manage it anymore.

Axel pulled his fingers out and abandoned a very shaken and aroused Sora on the floor. "Get up and put your hands on the desk." Wordlessly, he moved. He could feel himself throbbing and even if he wasn't fond of the pyro- he _wanted_ to be touched again. He'd only touched himself once before and it had been experimentally. "Down." Sora took the hint and invitation because standing seemed harder than before, and bent over the desk. Needless to say, he wasn't thinking at that point but when a wet digit pressed against and inside of him – he found himself torn out of his thoughts again. "What did you just put inside of me?!" He moved to see what Axel was doing although his mind already had a good idea, but Axel leaned forward and reached underneath him to resume stroking him. He timed one hand with the other, causing Sora to squirm underneath him. "That feels weird, stop!" It did feel weird. It was uncomfortable and foreign, and the addition of a second finger didn't help at all. "Axel, cut it..nng..ah." He could feel himself rapidly approaching something he couldn't find a word for, and the precum leaking out of him only made Axel's job easier. "S-stop, Axel!" It didn't make a convincing addition to his argument, either.

Yet, he did stop.

Sora was left panting as Axel began to move around behind him. God, it hurt. Being a teen, he started to regret asking Axel to stop. The throbbing appendage between his legs seemed angry at him as well. His shoulder blades flexed as he moved to stand up, an action that proved difficult in his state but doable nonetheless. He had barely stood when arms wrapped around his midsection and his neck was attacked once again. "I wasn't done with you." The heat from Axel's breath caused him to shiver, and he was sure he would come out of this loathing the smell of smoke even more passionately. Axel shifted and Sora became aware of what was pressed against his backside and that it was wet. The pyro just smiled against his skin.

"Bend over."

"What are you going to do, though?" After the little finger adventure he didn't even want to think what Axel was planning now. "Will you shut up? You want to be with her, right?" Sora caved again and lowered back onto the desk. He knew that the goal of everything he'd gone through was for her, and there was no sense in stopping Axel when he'd already gone through so much. His sides were grabbed as Axel forcefully spread him apart. Sora still wasn't sure what was going to happen but he didn't want to know. He buried his head in his arms. He would have gotten away with tuning out if it weren't for the excruciating pain that followed as Axel pushed forward. Sora only tensed, biting down on his lip in an attempt not to cry out. "Relax or it will hurt more." For that one moment, the pyro actually sounded caring, but it didn't change the size of what he was pushing inside of him. Common sense was what made him relax, because if this was painful now then it would hurt even more if he didn't.

_You're somewhere else. Think somewhere else. Birds? Bleh, no. I don't think I like them anymore._

Axel thrust forward without warning, and after Sora's initial cry of pain he was reduced to tears. He was sure he had to be bleeding, from more than just his lip. The overwhelming pain made him forget about being aroused. It made him forget about just about everything. Sure, getting punched and kicked hurt but this was a whole different level. He felt like he was burning, and not in a good way if there was one. Although Axel waited a moment until Sora recovered (if you could call _not_ sobbing recovering), the pain was still there as he began to move in and out of him. Sora thought he heard him order him to relax again but he was relaxed. He was as relaxed as a sixteen-year-old could get with another male thrusting inside of him. To Sora, it appeared that the pyro was trying to be caring by moving at a slow pace, but in truth the teen was just multitasking.

"Touch yourself."

It seemed strange, but Sora didn't care. He wanted this to be over with as quickly as possible. It took a moment for him to figure out how he was supposed to manage that, but he settled for supporting himself on one side while backhandedly stroking himself. It was then that the pain chose to subside just slightly as Axel hit something inside of him that caused him to moan unexpectedly.

_It's even the same spot, huh? _

Axel placed a hand on Sora's waist and it only took one tug to coax the brunette into acting on his own and pushing back against him. The thrusts became more frequent and harder, and much to Axel's delight – Sora began to call out to him. "Axel, I can't… keep…" Truthfully he didn't know what to say and everything besides his own name was indistinguishable to Axel due to the distortion from Sora's breathless moaning. He could have sworn he heard beeping behind him, but a final thrust that pressed him harder into his own hand sent the teen into his first orgasm. The shudders of his body and tightening around Axel's member ensured that the pyro wasn't far behind.

Axel pulled out, leaving a very distraught Sora to recuperate. _Why did I like that… am I really gay? No… that's natural to like something like that… no, it's not. I just did it for Kairi, but do you even deserve her after that… _He realized that he was just laying on a desk in front of Axel and quickly stood up, but he found himself regretting something for what seemed like the umpteenth time just that evening. He could feel something draining between his legs and judging by what was on his stomach and what'd just been inside of him – it didn't take long to figure out what it was.

* * *

"I suggest you clean up, Kairi's on her way."

Sora's eyes widened. He turned around to face the other to see he was fully dressed. "W-what? You're not serious, are you?" Axel closed his cell-phone and shoved it back into his hoody and looked towards him lazily.

"Do I look like I'm kidding?"

Sora tried the best he could to clean up, he really did. It disgusted him to no end, and he wondered how the teacher would react to having a trash can full of tissues doused in cum. In truth, Axel had just meant for Sora to clean himself because as disturbing as it seemed – the cleaning crew was already going to handle everything else. He just stood in the doorway and watched. Soon, he was joined by Sora's red-haired goddess who went completely unnoticed to him until he looked up from reaching for his pants. He froze. Everything in him turned to ice. Under normal circumstances he would have been overjoyed to see her, but this was anything but a normal circumstance. "So you really did it, huh Axel?" Axel only smirked, pulling out the cellphone and holding it out to her. . "Uh…sorry." Sora worked to getting on his pants, wondering_ what the hell is going on? _He stopped halfway in pulling them up when his own voice reached his ears, and he wasn't talking.

"Nn..Axel, please. I can't…"

_No. He wouldn't be. He couldn't… He's not that much of an asshole._

Kairi snickered as Axel snatched the phone from her. "I sent it to yours, so just pay up." The shorter girl muttered something under her breath before digging into her jacket pocket and handing what looked like to be two twenties to him. "What's going on?!" Sora finished pulling his pants up and began to buckle it, walking towards them. "That's not me, right? You said… you said I could be with her, what the hell is going on?" Kairi looked as though she was concealing laughter and Axel cast his gaze elsewhere. "Are you SERIOUS? Sorry, I don't date sluts."

_What?_

Sora fell quiet and bystander status befell him. He watched, he comprehended, but he couldn't speak. Axel stepped forward off of the door frame. "Why did you date me then?" He asked, before pulling out a cigarette. She looked at him and snatched the cigarette from him. "I don't remember, but this is why I don't anymore." She said, waving the source of the nasty habit in his face before having it snatched back. "Yeah, whatever. You smell like a whore." She scoffed before heading outside and turning back to look at Sora. "Sorry kid, nothing personal." With that she left Axel who moved to follow before doing the same.

"By the way, she's not my sister. I have green eyes and she has blue, you moron."

He exited.

* * *

"Master Sora?" No. No caring undertones right now, please. Sora dropped his backpack by the door and headed upstairs, ignoring the maid completely. She could have repeated his name, maybe it was something else – he just didn't care right then. The shower he chose was not like any other, a burning hot as opposed to the cold showers he'd loved before. He felt maybe he could scold the dirt off. Maybe, that feeling between his legs would go away. No, it didn't. Like some overused shower cliché, he scrubbed continually but the feeling stayed. He was in a dreamlike state, the period of disbelief before the pain finally settles in. Right now, he was just focused on getting clean.

After the longest shower in his adolescent life, Sora noticed that the house had fallen quiet. Moments before, he could have sworn he'd heard some sort of ruckus downstairs yet the apathy that was burrowed inside of him disallowed concern. He'd just wrapped a towel around his waist when the bathroom door opened. He lazily raised his head and it actually took a while for him to recognize the tall lean yet muscular man standing in the doorway. The only thing that destroyed his anonymity was the long mussed hair atop his head. He unsteadily walked further inside and hurled something towards Sora who instinctively caught it. He looked up and identified the reason for the man's irregular behavior – a bottle of liquid unknown to him but most likely alcohol.

He looked down at what had been thrown at him and instantly recognized the intricate lace designs and silk within his hands.

_A dress?..._


	6. Altogether in Pieces

**Chapter Notes:** I went back and reconstructed some things in the previous chapters. Just a bit of word changes and thought-changing. Also, secrets revealed in this new chapter. ; THIS IS STILL DAY 5. Chapters won't correspond with their days anymore. Also, this chapter is extremely short because I didn't feel like you were really interested in hearing about what Selphie and Riku did the entire time. I might go back and edit it to sort of reveal more about Riku's character later.

The warnings for this chapter are incest, angst, and... ANGST. Hahaha, kidding. Not too much. I put separators around the incest part. First two.

If you don't know who Sion is, google him. Tell me he doesn't look like Sora's twin. Eww, crossover.. Kingdom hearts only has so many characters, though.

* * *

Chapter 6: Altogether in Pieces

_He breaks. Some things you just can't replace._

"I bought you this for your birthday, Sion."

Sora's apathetic mannerisms remained. His weak blue eyes alternated between looking at the dress and the unsteady figure in the doorway. His memory sparked and his brow raised in confusion. "Dad, I'm not a girl and I'm not Sion." Although his father's eyes were glazed over with drunken misguidance, they flashed with a sort of recognition followed by disappointment and humor. "Not a girl, eh? Your brother used to say that, too." Apathy dwindled as Sora turned and tilted his head slightly. "Um, Dad. Sion was my twin sister." He nervously began to roll the fabric between his fingers, suddenly finding himself a bit distant and unfamiliar with his own father who was gazing at the half empty bottle of liquid in his hand distastefully and back at Sora with an equally distasteful gaze. He began to drink but mid-swing he began to laugh, erupting into a choked fit of laughter. "I wanted a little girl. He was too young and weak for the final surgery, I guess. Ahahahaha. He just stopped trying. He gave up…

It should have been you."

Sora's face contorted into a pained expression as his father's eyes dimmed back into a vacant expression then altered once again. He looked towards the teen, appearing to recognize him as their previous conversation faded into darkness. "Put the dress on." Sora's eye twitched involuntarily as he angrily gripped the dress harder. "No! I'm not Sion! W-what are you… What's wrong with everyone?!" He finally shouted, and the sound of glass shattering filled the bathroom. The man had attempted to balance the drink on the sink, but due to his skewed perception it ended up falling. Sora moved to exit the room, deciding he didn't want to be a part of this any longer. He wasn't going to put up with this crap. His dad was lying, he had to be. He was just drunk.

"What did I tell you about leaving, Sion?"

Sora's arm was gripped tightly and twisted in a manner it shouldn't have been. Sora grunted and attempted to pull away before the grip was tightened. "Do I have to dress you again?" His heart began to pound and his chest ached. There was that look in his eyes. That was the same look that Axel had gazed at him with before. They looked at him as though he was someone else. They didn't see him. They couldn't. "Dad, FOR THE LAST TIME I'M NOT SION." The man completely ignored him and instead opted for hurling him face-first on top of the dress. Sora's footing didn't help him at all, and only ensured that his father would succeed. The towel came unraveled at his waist and he frantically attempted to cover himself with it again, but his father knelt down and grabbed one of his wrists. "Don't mess it up, it's custom made. I'll help you." Sora didn't know what was going on. He knew his father was being guided by the liquid poison, and he could distantly remember how close they used to be. He didn't want to hurt him. He was still his dad.

"Dad, please. Just cut it out. Wake up."

He pulled his wrist from him, but for what seemed like the millionth time – his neck was grabbed. This time, it was in a delicate manner and soon his hand moved along his collarbone and up to his bare shoulder. "It's okay, Sion. I love you." With his other hand, his father had reached for the dress and when he withdrew his other hand it was to properly hold it. He positioned it over Sora and pulled it down and over his head.

"Dad…"

Sora was in the brilliantly fashioned dress that appeared to have cost well over 2,000 dollars. Sora hadn't noticed it before, but there were intricate little jewels along the collar that appeared to be sapphires. The boy was petite which much was clear enough. Regardless, he was still a boy and wasn't made to be seen in a dress in his own thoughts. A glance towards the mirror over the sink was all that it took for his last shred of dignity to begin to decompose. His eyes softened into a sort of vacancy that could only be achieved by a profound sort of hurt. He didn't move or do much of anything as he felt the lips against his bare skin, dragged and trailed along his shoulder. The caring and affectionate manner his father handled him was even more sickening than Axel's desperate lust. "I love you, Sion." The man repeatedly whispered in his ear as his hand began to grope at Sora through the dress fabric. He dragged his hand along Sora's chest, then around to his back where he caressed him just as delicately. Time seemed to move achingly slow as his father guided him downwards and back onto the floor. He withdrew his hand and positioned it beneath the dress and onto Sora's thigh. He squeezed it, before beginning to massage the flesh with his fingers. For someone in a drunken stupor, he seemed to be patient. The massaging was to serve as a distraction, but Sora still noticed when the hand began to snake upwards towards his nether regions.

"Do you want me to touch you, Sion?"

He leaned forward and licked his way up from the collarbone and around to Sora's neck who visibly shuddered in disgust. His expression darkened, the only sign that anything was ticking in his mind at all. The pungent stench of alcohol only seemed to increase with each time he spoke. "Do you?" No response. "Sion, answer me." No response. "So you're going to be a bad boy? Have it your way then." His father struggled to his feet in front of Sora who found himself eye-level with another man's crotch once again. He kept his mouth closed, his teeth grinding. He recognized the sound of a zipper being undone. If anything was shoved in his mouth, he couldn't be held accountable for biting the damned thing off. Sadly, this wasn't the case. He realized this too late, seeing how he was trying desperately not to look at his father because he couldn't stand to see him like that he couldn't foresee what was about to happen. The sudden hot stream of alcohol and piss scented liquid was his price, as it landed on his cheek then rose into his eye. He moved to pull back, but his hair was suddenly grabbed – something else he was starting to resent having. "STOP!" Unfortunately, he'd opened his mouth to say that and some of the liquid drained in. He frantically spit, raising his hands to shield his face. He pulled back again despite the aching pain of his hair being pulled out, but his father's grip was ironclad. He could only turn his face away until the stream died down.

"You should always listen to your father, Sion."

As soon as Sora's hair was released, he crawled over to the toilet with intent to vomit. A sudden wave of dizziness was what served to derail him from his original intent, and he only grabbed the sides of the toilet lid. His eyes were still stinging and the powerful stench of piss remained. He stared down at the liquid inside for a brief moment, before he felt a pair of hands on his waist before he was abruptly pulled backwards. He was being pulled backwards, and although he didn't know why he was sure that he didn't want to be pulled that way or to go through anything from that point onwards. He blindly attempted to pull himself forward, and in a desperate claw at the ground with his right hand he landed a shard of glass within his palm. His surprised gasp was nothing compared to the pained cry that followed afterwards as his father shoved his entire length inside of him. Without hesitation, without lube, without care. "DAD STOP!" Sora shouted, his eyes widened and tears threatening to overrule him. He roughly pulled backwards. "Relax, Sion."

_Why is everyone doing this to me… _

Sora's muscles loosened only a result of his discontent as his father pulled back further until only the tip remained inside of him before thrusting back inside. The pain was excruciating, and it was only countered slightly by Sora forcing the shard deeper into the palm of his hand. Even then, it didn't quite qualify as a formidable distraction. It was the only one he had, though. There was no longer a Kairi in his mind to make everything okay. There wasn't anything. The thrusts became more frequent and the man abandoned all self-restraint, disregarding his son's uncomfortable shuddering beneath him. Instead, he caringly caressed his sides which only made the teen even less comfortable. Eventually, the thrusts became more frequent. There was something trailing down his legs. He couldn't quite tell who it was from, but judging from his rear's pain he assumed it was his blood.

"See what happens when… you don't… cooperate, Sion?"

The elder began to pant as the he rammed himself into the broken teen, having to grab his waist to steady himself as his thrusts became harder and shorter. Sora only quietly cried, squeezing the shard in his palm even more tightly. It was disgusting. It was beyond the sort of disgust he got from Sephiroth. Suddenly, his father dug his nails into his waist as he pushed forward a last time and erupted into a one-sided explosion of pleasure. He pulled out, and Sora collapsed onto the linoleum floor. He remained there, not even bothering to attempt to conceal himself any longer. "You got your dress dirty… I needta… get you a new one made." Sora was distant now, although he heard shuffling noises behind him as his father pulled his boxers and pants up. He failed to remember to close his zipper, but couldn't have cared less. He navigated out of the bathroom, down the stairs, and out of the door.

_It should have been me…? I should have died?_

Everything was beginning to finally connect in his mind. The protective wall around it crumbled, and every memory he'd repressed instantly returned – unrestrained.

_Everyone. Everyone was using me. Kairi…even Kairi… _

He began to cry. It wasn't normal crying, no. It was the crying that hurt. It really and truly hurt. His heart felt like it was congested, and every strained exhale was painful. She had destroyed his life, his world, everything for just a video. He was practically sold for forty fucking dollars. Then, dad. _He used me. My own Dad… _Sora half-curled, his arms wrapped around his own midsection. He felt cold. To top everything at school off, Sion. Sion was the only person who had seemed to understand him. Sure, they were kids but Sion was the closest person in his life. And his father killed him. He put him through some fucking surgery for his own sick twisted desire?

God, it hurt.

Sora struggled to his feet, ignoring the fact his shard dug into his hand as he forced himself upwards. He also ignored the pain that shot up his backside from his rear. This wasn't anything compared to the grief his own thoughts instilled. Sora dipped into a bizarre state of mind. He was fully aware of what he did, but it was through a dreamy fog as though everything was premeditated. He grabbed his boxers that he'd set on the empty part of the towel rack before he'd begun his shower, and put them on. The felt far too accustomed to the liquid draining between his legs than he'd have liked to be. He ignored it, and exited the bathroom. Several lights were on including his own room, which he only gazed into as he passed by. Instead of his room, he stopped at the end of the hallway and opened the door nearest the stairs.

It was his father's gun gallery.

* * *

"Selphie, you don't have to do this for me. I'll be fine." The brown-haired female's lips fell into a frown just as she'd finished taping the end of the bandage she'd wrapped around his arm. "You did it for Sora, didn't you?" Riku often underestimated Selphie's ability to pick up on things around her, and it astonished him to no end. He sighed and relaxed back into the chair, staring up at the ceiling fan. "Sort of. I always wanted to leave myself…I just didn't have a good enough reason to, I guess." He would have glared at her, but she set to work on his other arm and he could only hiss as the antiseptic touched his open wound. If it weren't for the bottle of the liquid being right there on the table next to them, he would have sworn it was acid she was using. "Do you like Sora?" Her question was innocent enough, but caused Riku to visibly fidget around in the chair before settling back down. "Um, of course I like him. He's my friend." _True. _Selphie glared at him and purposefully pressed the rag deep into the wound. He hissed again, "Okay! Christ. Kind of. I don't know, kind of like a brotherly way… Well, that doesn't even describe it right." She moved for the bandaging and stopped, glaring at the wound and then back to the bandaging. "I think I'll have to sew this one up, too." Riku groaned, "I'll take the bleeding to death, thanks."

After an agonizing 20 more minutes of sewing, antiseptic, and bandaging, Riku reached for his old gray hoody to put it back on even if it was torn and covered in blood. Selphie huffed in protest behind him, "Sit down for a while. You shouldn't be running around after something like that. You should go to an actual doctor, too. I'll be right back." She headed upstairs, and Riku settled down in the chair nearest him. It would have been stupid for him to put unnecessary strain on himself by standing while she wasn't there.

"You know I can't do that."

He sighed, gazing down at the gray hoody in his hands. There was barely a spot where there wasn't a blood, given the fact he'd just laid around in his injuries a while after they were inflicted. "Your eye looked pretty bad, though. Could you see out of it?" Riku was planning on avoiding mirrors for some time. It kept him from realizing the gravity of the fight that had occurred, and just how severely he was injured. Even if he could avoid looking, the stinging of his injuries ensured that they would not be forgotten. "Come to think of it. No, I couldn't. I think it was cut or something, I don't know." Selphie headed back down the stairs holding a small bundle of something black in her arms. She threw it at Riku and it landed on his head. He pulled it down, and gazed at it. It was a black form-fitting looking hoody with a secondary zipper that didn't seem to serve any purpose other than confuse the owner. "That's my brother's, you should be able to fit it." She walked over and snatched the gray hoody from his lap before he stood and started to put his new apparel on.

"Awwww, you look soo cute! Sora's going to love that."

Riku muttered a 'haha' before the bubbly girl exited to the kitchen. He sat back down in the same chair. _Can she ever sit still? _He wondered. "Sora probably thinks I ditched him…" He sighed, and Selphie must have had the hearing equivalent of a shark's sensory system because she picked it up even though it was a low mutter. "I'm sure he'll understand. It'll be fine! And you're lucky I found you after school. You were bleeding pretty bad. At least you're out of the Organization for good, huh?" She came back with an unidentified glass of liquid and handed it to him. "It's just iced tea, don't worry." He thanked her and started to drink it. He watched Selphie out of the corner of his eye, because he suspected she might try something.

"So, you like Sora like how he liked Kairi?"

Riku lowered the glass from his mouth, hesitating. There were similarities in their discussion, but… wait a minute. "What do you mean _liked _Kairi?" Riku raised a brow and Selphie started to trace a figure eight on the table next to them. "After what Kairi and Axel did to him… I don't think that he would like her very much after that." Riku's brows furrowed as he set the glass down on a conveniently placed coaster. "What do you mean what they did to him? What did they do?" Selphie's face grew red as she recalled the detail of what she'd been told was going to happen. She could have warned Sora, but she couldn't betray a friend even if it was the right thing to do. "Um… Bad things, I guess." Riku stood abruptly, wincing in pain as he did so. He started to feel nauseated. "Hey wait, Riku! You shouldn't get up so fast! You need to wait a while." Riku ignored her and headed towards the door. He only paused when his door was on the doorknob.

"Thanks for everything Selphie, really."

_I have to find him, just to make sure he's okay. If Kairi did do something like that, he wouldn't have taken it well. Damn that girl, she could have told me earlier. I didn't think they would have done something. _He tried to walk quickly as steadily as he could, but the horrid pain in his right leg landed him with a limp. Regardless, he continued onwards. It was getting dark. _I know he thinks I ditched him. Damnit. I try to protect and help him, and I only end up making things worse. Peachy. _The large mansion that served as Sora's residence had just come into view when Riku was overcome with an aching feeling in his chest akin to a heart burn. He hadn't felt anything like that in his life, and it hurt. It hurt worse than the gashes in his arms and legs or even his eyes. He felt pain, but it wasn't his own. Sure, he wasn't one to believe in that sort of stuff and figured it was just a random heartache until it subsided just as quickly as it'd come and was replaced with a sensation of dread he just wouldn't be able to ignore.

The driveway came into view just as a dark car began backing out of the driveway. It reversed in a wild manner, mercilessly slaughtering the greenery before it reached the road whereas it turned and headed down the wrong side of the road. Riku waited until it was out of sight, his reasoning telling him that he shouldn't be seen by whoever that crazed driver was. _Sora… _That feeling before, it felt like someone was hurt. The intensity told him time was running out. He didn't know what would happen at the clock's end, but he knew he didn't want it to. He headed down the sidewalk and up the walkway. He painfully raised his arm to knock on the door yet when his knuckles just barely tapped it – the door creaked open. _The door's open? _This only confirmed that something was awry. As he warily entered the house, he decided that whoever had just hectically driven away was the cause of the door being opened. Hence, the threat was gone. _Now I just need to find Sora._ He skimmed the area, only acknowledging that one lamp was on before a large amount of light from a stairwell caught his eye. He didn't hesitate. He was pulled in a direction, and he went it.

* * *

It was difficult for Riku to even manage the menial task of walking up stairs but his determination was steadfast. He was at the top before his confidence could waver even slightly, and the first thing he noticed was the opened door at the end of the hallway. The door was half-open and the light was on. _It's quiet… But I know he's here. _Suddenly, the corridor seemed insanely small. He sure wasn't claustrophobic, but if he had been he probably would've passed out within the first three steps down it. A heavy air lingered in the corridor that only got increasingly stronger as he walked. Riku was able to breathe, but it gave the illusion that he wasn't quite doing it right. He paced himself and gazed in every room he passed. Ages seem to have gone by before he reached Sora's room, coincidentally just as the brunette began to laugh. It was a disquieting manic laughter, struggling against his throat's uncooperative restriction. "Sora..?" Riku walked further into the room and only had to turn slightly to see his friend sitting down, back against his bed. His head had been thrown back in laughter, and he tilted his head slightly to return the other's gaze. The eyes he stared into were a pair he wasn't familiar with, his irises were dimmed seeming vacant. He couldn't find any feeling within them; not even hurt. There was nothing. Although Riku wasn't aware, the black hoody he donned only served as the teen's final confirmation. To him, it was a new black hoody. To Sora, it was the Organization XIII hoody. It was only when Sora had begun to raise a certain black object to his head that Riku noticed it, recognized it, and was swept with trepidation. A gun.

"You guys win, okay? Game over."

"SORA, DON'T!"

The gunshot rang up above Riku's frantic shouting.


	7. Idiocy

**Chapter Notes:** Things aren't always as they seem… You know, of course. Yes, I had to leave you guys with a cliffhanger like that. For everyone who was wondering (cough lovelesssapphiregirl cough), everything Roxas-related will be explained. Eventually, just like everything else.

I'm so sorry for the lateness. I have been busy with classes. I'm behind! I have so many things to do. I will try to continue this story, but it will be slow. Bear with me, please!

**Warnings for this chapter: **Swearing, Short, Blood, Angst (brief).

--

Chapter 7: Idiocy

_For once, your stupidity paid off._

"Yeah I'm sure that's the address, fuck!"

"Please try to stay calm, now what's your emergency?"

"My friend shot himself in the head or something, christ, I don't know what's going on! Sora, sora?!"

"An ambulance is on the way. Please calm down and try to control the bleeding. Is he breathing?"

"Yeah, but it's really shallow. That means he's alive, right? Yeah. I think."

"Yes, he's alive. Do not move the body."

"Sora, why would you do this? Why? What did they do to you? Damn it…"

"I'll stay on the line with you until the ambulance arrives. Continue to control the bleeding and listen for the ambulance."

The extent of Riku's hysteria was only rivaled by the equal extent of Sora's unconsciousness. His own tears never came, because although his common logic abandoned him – his dedication and loyalty remained. He knew that the woman wouldn't be able to understand him if he got too hysterical, and it was damn hard holding it back. His voice rose, fell, and gave out occasionally but that was just as calm as he could get. Blood doused his new apparel, the floor, the blanket, and most importantly the phone. Riku found it slipping out of his hands more than he'd have liked because of the damned substance. The rise and fall of Sora's chest was his lifeline, and the lifeline of Riku's sanity. He was alive, and he had to keep him that way. That's all he knew. Ambulance sirens rang out and he bid farewell to the woman on the phone, yelling frantically even when he knew they weren't within earshot yet.

Although he much would have liked to writhe and kick things, he didn't want to be thrown out of the hospital. He didn't quite like being questioned about Sora's injury either, but it was reasonable. Sora's own parents were nowhere to be seen, and Riku seethed at the thought. He knew just who's car that was now, but he couldn't place what he'd done to Sora, and that's without even thinking of Axel and Kairi. _I swear to god if Sora's not okay I'll fucking kill them. _He ran his hands through his hair, pulled it, stood up and walked around, only to sit back down shortly. He detested hospitals and detested the cheery manner some of the people were going about talking or walking. He hated the 3-10 year old drawings thanking people who probably didn't even work there anymore, and was getting tired of all the staring from random other people in the hospital. Speaking of which, an old woman just next to him spoke up. "Are you alright?" No, he wasn't. His problems were his own though, so he only rubbed his temples before muttering a "Yeah."

Witnessing your friend attempt to suicide is one thing, but to have to wait in a room before finding out whether or not they succeeded was just pure torture. Not to mention Riku just couldn't get over that look that Sora had given him. It was worse than the betrayal. He couldn't stand it if he died and that was the last way he'd looked at him. "Gah." Riku sat up and back against the chair. Sure, he was getting blood in the seat but nobody seemed to want to bother him about it or just didn't care. He'd been offered some reject form of clothing to replace it with, but he couldn't have been less concerned with his appearance at that moment or the chair's for that matter. The sudden violent jolting from the vibrating cellphone in his pocket forcibly shook him out of his thoughts. Instinctively, he pulled it out. He didn't even know the thing worked hence why he'd immediately just gone for Sora's house phone before. He flipped the lid open only to stare at 0:01 instead of the actual name of the person. So much for seeing who was calling before answering. Not that it could be anyone else."Riku?" He put it to his ear and looked up to watch a nurse pass by.

"Yeah, Selphie. That's you, right?"

She giggled in response and attempted to pull off an impression of Sora which, needless to say, didn't fly so well with Riku. "Cut it out. Sora just tried to kill himself. Well maybe he did do it; I don't know what's going on." Selphie gasped followed by a loud cluttering sound like she'd dropped the phone. Riku noted not to hold cellphones close to his ear when talking to her. "What? Is he okay? Are you okay? Ohmygod, that's horrible. It's my fault isn't it? I should have told him about Kairi, I should've warned him!" Riku's throat started to feel constricted again, not to go unaccompanied by the heavy weight of dread. "No, it's not your fault. I could've stepped in a long time ago. He was happy though, I didn't know what to do. I thought maybe he would catch on? I don't know. I didn't want to interfere." _Lot of good that did you. _He sighed before Selphie began crying on the other end. She didn't even actually know Sora, and yet there she was crying for him.

Some people would consider that weak. In this case, it was just the sign of a genuinely caring person. People express it in different ways, and Selphie's was emotionally blunt. Unfortunately, her sobbing started making it more difficult for Riku to sustain his level of detachment from the situation. "Hey, Selphie. It's okay, alright?" _No it's not. _"I'm sure he'll be fine, so stop crying." _There was a lot of blood. He shot himself in the head; he's not going to be okay. There's no way. Damn it. _"D-d-dyou want me to come there? What hospital?" Riku quietly declined and said he had to go because he thought the doctor was coming. That was a lie, but he couldn't stand to talk about it anymore. He didn't even want to be in the situation. He didn't want to think about it and would even like to think it wasn't real.

It seemed like several hours had passed before a young woman finally came to him. He inwardly panicked, because it was often times that women were the ones to deliver bad news about someone dying. They were just able to convey it more gently than men. He stood when she stopped in front of him. Seconds seemed to slip into minutes as he waited for her mouth to open.

"I have good news and bad news. The good news is that your friend is going to be okay."

Riku fell back and down back into the seat behind him and exhaled a breath that he'd felt he'd been holding for hours. He gave a half-assed laugh of relief that dissolved when he remembered she said bad news as well. He looked back up at her, but remained seated. "Okay, but … what's the bad news?"

"Well, the wadding delivered serious damage to his eardrum, and we did the best we could but he's going to be deaf in that ear. Luckily, it prevented it from doing much worse damage. I know it was horrible to make you wait, but we have him in a room now. You can visit him, just follow me?" _A blank? _Riku stood, unable to conceal his smile as he nodded. Sure, his friend was deaf in one ear now but he was alive. All down the way to Sora's room he'd exhale in relief and smirk occasionally, and stared upwards in the elevator. Once he'd taken a step out of the elevator, his expression darkened as he recalled the last thing Sora had said to him._You guys win. Did he think… this hoody? He thought I was in the Organization again? _He'd stopped and the nurse had as well – a few doors ahead. "Sir, are you alright? This is his room." Riku worriedly looked up and nodded before watching her enter and announce him. He stepped in just as the nurse walked past and out, closing the door behind her.

_I couldn't even do that right. I couldn't even kill myself right. Haha. That's pathetic. _

"Sora…"

_Go away…_

Sora had been too busy trying not to pay attention to the person who'd entered and focusing on the sky outside to notice as Riku walked over. "Why, Sora?" _So it was you. _His voice was anything but stoic, and there was a deep sadness that just about anyone could have uprooted. "Why do you care? You're one of them again." _This is embarrassing. How do you fail at killing yourself? That's a new kind of stupid. Something only I could pull off. Argh. _He continued to stare out the window, although the reflection of Riku was in it now. It's funny how when you're trying your hardest not to see something, you do. He tried to focus on the clouds anyhow, when something else white caught his eye. The placement was strange, so he ended up glancing over to Riku who was taking off the black hoody. It was only now that he was able to see the differences between this one and the last, quite significant differences that only a deep state of mind could have caused to go unnoticed. He saw the most significant of the few when Riku turned it around in front of him. It was the absence of a white roman number. "I'm sorry I couldn't be there…No, I wasn't there. I didn't think … Yeah, that's just it. I didn't think. I…I should've told you about Kairi and … but you were happy, I didn't want to see you…" He looked up from the jacket in time to pick up on Sora's distraught expression. "I didn't want to see you like this, actually."

Sora looked up to return the gaze only to find out there was only one eye in which to gaze at. The other was bandaged. In fact, after further inspection – the blood on his new apparel didn't seem to only come to him. At least, he assumed it might partially be his because the nurse had stated "the young man who helped you." He remembered everything that had happened preceding his failure in HDTV crystal clarity, and he realized exactly what his friend had just been through. He realized exactly what he'd put his _only_ friend through.

"I-I.. I'm ..sor… Kairi… everyone they just -I was so stupid. I let everything...happen and…"

It's funny. Sora was just fine soaking in his hospital bed of apathy or simply thinking about what happened, but when he actually started to say it – it finally settled in and it hurt like hell. Everything that had happened coupled with the fact he hadn't been able to distinguish between a blank capsule and an actual bullet deeming him a moron to himself was too much. He couldn't keep himself from crying anymore. In fact, he started to downright sob, burying his face in his hands in an attempt to shut out the humiliation. Riku walked over and, although he ended up an awkward position because of the bed railing, he hugged him. Sure, Sora was a bumbling sobbing mess that was transferring to his shoulder, but Riku didn't care. "Don't do that again or I'll kill you." Sora choked out a laugh before clutching Riku more tightly. "I'm sorry...I didn't mean to make you sad, I…just wanted everything to stop. I couldn't even do that right!" He finally managed in a sob-free exhale of air.

"I'm sorry, too."

"Attempted suicide victim here, you have to let me see." Sora whined. Riku dodged another reach for the band around his eye. _Yeah, and for an attempted suicide kid you sure are happy. Not that that's a bad thing… I'll keep you like this as long as I can_. "I had to get Selphie's brother to get us out, we're even. You're supposed to be resting. It's really late...er, early." Riku countered, catching Sora's wrists before he got close enough a fourth time. "Please?" Riku narrowed his eye, "It still hurts. It might not look well, you shouldn't…" Regardless, he released Sora's wrists and allowed the boy to begin unwrapping it. Normally, he couldn't care less what someone thought of him. He normally didn't show emotion or act purely on instinct either, and yet he'd done both of them within 24 hours. Sora's expression softened once he pulled back the final piece.

"Organization XIII did it, didn't they? Because you left for me-"

There was just a hint of regret or some negative tone that Riku didn't want to hear in Sora's voice, so he interrupted him. "No, I've always wanted to leave. I didn't have a good enough reason to until now." Talk about Déjà vu. Sora started to smile, "Want to know what it looks like?" When Riku responded with a no, not really; Sora reached out and started to trail the injury just above his eye with his finger. "It looks like a shooting star. This is the trail, and there's a star in your eye. It's really pretty. Can you see out of it?" Riku had been looking at Sora just fine, but suddenly it was difficult to do just that and even more so to just sit there. He assumed it was because of being called "pretty" and the way Sora had said it. Not to mention not having had anyone touch him like that for a fairly long time. Awkward. He was strangely disappointed but relieved when Sora pulled his hand away just after he muttered a 'No.' "You're smiling and blushing!" Riku hadn't realized he was smiling, another thing that was as scarce an event with him as puddles in the desert. "I don't blush and I wasn't smiling." He flatly stated, but the thoughtful devious look Sora was staring at him with caused him to smile again. "See!" Riku shook his head and stood. "Nah, that was a smirk. Anyways, I should um… probably go. It's late and you're tired, aren't you?" No, he didn't want to go but as we're all well aware – he wasn't one to impose on others. Not to mention he was still feeling disturbingly awkward.

"W-wait! Don't leave. I.. it's Saturday or maybe Friday, I don't know – but it's not a school day or anything and even if it was I could get you clothes or someth-…"

"Christ Sora, okay. I'll stay." He surveyed the younger's tired eyes, "If you sleep." Sora's brows furrowed in worry as Riku sat back down in the chair next to the bed. "Don't worry, I'll watch you and I won't leave. Get some rest." He rubbed the eye with the palm of his hand that didn't risk infection, as the brunette simultaneously rubbed the back of his neck."But you're tired too, I can see it...and I'm not going to make you um, sit, you can sleep in the bed... it's really big and I don't move or snore or anything like that." Riku raised a brow. It was true that sitting would have been rather uncomfortable, but he couldn't sleep in the same bed as him. That'd be awkward. "I'll pass, I'm good with chairs." Sora glared, "No. I'd feel bad. I'll sit in the chair, then!" Riku chuckled before standing again. "Alright, you win. I'll sleep with you." Sora's face reddened before his expression dwindled into one Riku had never seen before. His godly intuition kicked in, and just that short moment was enough to arouse suspicion.

"Is that what he made you do? Axel?"

Sora's demeanor suddenly changed. He shifted over into an estranged happy sadness, and that confirmed Riku's thoughts for him. "Oh and, you should take your wannabe Organization XIII jacket and stuff before you lay down. They're really dirty." Sora was hoping it would work. He didn't want to talk or think about what had happened. The thought that Riku didn't actually know what happened made him happier, but that was accompanied with the burden of secrecy. He scooted backwards and slipped the covers over him before sliding over to the other side of the bed to allow Riku access to the nearest side. It probably would have been a better idea to suggest a shower, but Riku was so tired he'd most likely have declined that anyhow. Out of the corner of his eye, Sora could see enough movement that confirmed that his friend was taking his advice and undressing so he turned entirely on his side. Although the situation was absent of that profound anxiety ridden ambiance, Sora felt a new kind of discomfort.

He wasn't quite sure exactly how tired he was now. He'd evenly distributed pillows between the sides, laid down, and already he was starting to dose. Riku had been sitting on the edge of the bed for a while, and finally shifted to lie down as well. As a welcomed dreamy fog overcame Sora, he thought he heard Riku mutter something along the lines of-

"I'll kill him."

--

PS: Blanks can actually kill you. Don't try it. Bit of fanservice in there. Right now, I'm not a doctor. However, given the angle and just how far the gun was from his head I'm making assumptions. That's all I've got goin' for me right now.


End file.
